


Pyrite

by Cockbite (personalized_radio)



Series: The Cockbite Syndicate [4]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF, The Creatures | Cow Chop RPF
Genre: Aleks is a fucking brat, Bodyguard Romance, Fake AH Crew, Fake Chop, M/M, Rated E for later chapters, and James is the bodyguard that does not get paid enough for this, ft. brett the best friend and trevor the accountant, ft. joe asher anna and jakob the very sad protection detail, ft. stupid boys falling in love when they shouldn't, kind of??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-01-16 08:44:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 90,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12339330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/personalized_radio/pseuds/Cockbite
Summary: Aleks Free, ward of The Golden Boy, needs a bodyguard if he doesn't want to go with the Fakes. James is here to do the job.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so it got..................longer. so we get chapters instead ig??? 
> 
> idk how many chapters or when ill have a regular schedule up but ill try my hardest to update at least once every two weeks! october is gonna be Very Hard for me bc im...doin a LOT but we'll see!!!!
> 
> as very much always, thank you to [kenn](http://allrighthello.tumblr.com/), [tay](http://nealinator.tumblr.com/), and [phoenix](http://romeosregrets.tumblr.com/), who literally save my soul every time i start writing with no end in sight. kenn let me spam her discord with this fic plot and helps me edit, tay is Constantly my biggest fan, and idk what i would do without phoe bc we've realized that we're two halves of the same person separated by two years, a pretty big pond, and different parents. thank u guys <3
> 
> you can find me [on Tumblr](https://cockbite.tumblr.com/)! i post fake/gta!au :)

Aleks really should have expected this but if there’s one thing he’d learned from the last few weeks, it was that you could never expect James.

-

“Look, love,” Gavin sighed, like Aleks was throwing a tantrum over some little thing, like he was still a misbehaved pre-teen, “I know your friend is throwing a party -”

“It isn't _a_ party, Gav!” Aleks snapped, pulling clothes out of his suitcase just as fast as Gavin was throwing them in, a steady pile of _wrinkled clothes_ building up on his bed that he was going to have to send to the dry cleaners to straighten out, “It is _the_ party, and I will be the _laughing stock_ of Los Santos if I am not _there_ ,”

“First of all,” Gavin stopped what he was doing and held up a finger, stopping him from continuing, “It’s Achievement City. We’re rebranding, love, please get with the program. Second of all,” He held up a second finger, “I don’t care if you go out in hot pants and clown make-up. If a _single person_ laughs at you, I’ll have them drawn and quartered like we’re in king times.”

“That’s sweet, _love_ ,” Aleks managed to empty the suitcase out, “But how are you going to do that when all of you are in _Indonesia_?”

“Keep a list,” Gavin said primly, and then pushed Aleks’ hands out of the suitcase and started returning the clothes Aleks had pulled out back to it, folding them as he went, like the argument was over and he now had time to properly pack, “But it’s a moot point, because you’re coming with us, innit?”

“No,” “Aleks stamped his foot, metaphorically standing his ground, “I’m _not_.”

“ _Aleksandr_ ,” Gavin stopped too, finally starting to look annoyed, “Do you understand that you are in _danger_? This is no game, Law _will_ kill you and we won’t be here to stop him. You’re acting like a child.”

Aleks shifted, stopped breathing and pressed his eyebrows together against the sting of that.

They stared at each other for a long moment, glare to glare, before Aleks gave in after a second too long of Gavin looking at him with annoyance, tensing up and tightening his crossed arms against his chest under his disapproval.

He glared down at his feet instead, lips pressed tight together, ignored Gavin when he said his name. Of course he knew Gavin wasn’t going to - punish him, or whatever. It’d been _years_ since he’d ever had to worry about something like that. But it was still - it was. It felt _dangerous_ , arguing. Even with someone he trusted like Gavin.

“Aleks,” Gavin groaned, “Come on, don’t - I’m sorry,” he sighed, finally leaving the suitcase to go to Aleks. He took hold of his shoulders but, feeling dumb, Aleks still didn’t look up.

“Aleks,” Gavin squeezed him, dropping his voice to something more gentle, understanding, “Maybe stealing the ring just before we all leave the country wasn’t _the best_ idea we’ve ever had. But we’ve pissed everyone off, I’m worried they won’t _watch you_ if I leave you behind so they can punish me and I have no one to trust you to with, with B-team going underground, too.”

“Burnie loves you,” Aleks protested, still staring at the floor, “And he’s okay with me, too.”

“Yes, but he’s _mad_ ,” Gavin moved one hand to his chin and made him tilt his head up to meet his eye, “And what did I say about eye contact?”

“Not to break first,” Aleks mumbled, making himself look straight at him, “Unless they want you to.”

“Exactly,” Gavin smiled when he did look at him and, small, Aleks smiled back. Gavin’s thumb went to the skin under his left eye, sharp nail pressed lightly to the flesh, and slowly slid along the line of his lower lid. “Your liner is smeared, love.”

“Oh,” Aleks lifted his hand up but didn’t touch, just looked up at the ceiling while Gavin fixed it for him. “Thanks.”

“Now, back to business,” Gavin let his chin go when Aleks looked back at him, “Burnie is _mad_ at me,” he pulled a face, “And I can’t trust my diamond with someone who isn’t fond of me at the mo’, can I?”

“But,” Aleks shifted a little, “Okay, but you can’t keep watching me _forever_ , Gav! And I _swore_ to Brett that I’d be there - and you always say to keep the promises you make to your friends.”

Gavin pulled another face, still holding one of his hands. Gavin’s hands were always warm; smooth and silky because he moisturized like a motherfucker, but familiar and comforting.  

“You’ve got me there.”

Aleks, his smile widening, squeezed his hand back, “So I can stay?”

Gavin, lips twisting unhappily, made a thoughtful face, “It _would_ seem...off, if you missed the biggest party of the year. What would our clients think?”

“Exactly,” Aleks said, a little too fast, “Think of the _clients_ , Gav. Our reputation.”

“Oh, you’re doing it for the _clients_ ,” Gavin sighed, put out, but laughing a little at Aleks trying to keep the smile down, “I see, why didn’t you just say so?”

“Everything I do is for the clients,” Aleks said, straight-faced, and Gavin rolled his eyes, but he was looking at Aleks fondly and Aleks finally felt his shoulders relax. He didn’t care about anyone else - not what Burnie or a client - thought, but he _hated_ when Gavin was upset with him.

“Okay, fine. You can stay,” Gavin finally said, only to continue before Aleks could even start to celebrate, “But on _two conditions_.”

“Name them,” Aleks tried to wipe the smile off his face. He mostly succeeded - would have looked normal to anyone else, but this was _Gavin_ , who just gave him an unimpressed eyebrow.

“ _One_ , I’m hiring a security team -”

“ _What_ -”

“ _Two_ ,” Gavin said over him, louder, “If you’re staying here, then I might as well give this to you, now.”

He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket - stylish, the newest in Burnie’s fashion line, it hadn’t even hit mass production yet, and Aleks _wanted it_ but it was fitted and Aleks would rather not have it at all than have it and have it be _misfitted_ \- and pulled out a small velvet box.

“Did you get me something?” Aleks bit his lip, wide eyed, and Gavin rolled his eyes like he was amused at the question.

“Did you think I was going to whisk you away to Indonesia without even a trinket to apologize?”

“You didn’t have to,” Aleks said, but he was _pleased_. Gavin had gaudy tastes, but so did Aleks, and they complemented each other. Aleks was used to gifts after so long together, but it never stopped being _exciting_. Never stopped making him feel warm.

“Of course I did, love,” Gavin opened the box, revealing a necklace with a charm maybe an inch by inch in size. It was square book, silver and thick, encrusted with diamonds around the edge. His initials, _AF_ , were engraved in looping golden cursive, as if the title of the book.

“Gav,” He said, mouth dropping open, and Gavin laughed delightedly, pulling the necklace out carefully and tossing the box as if it were nothing. It was a thin, silver chain and Aleks held his breath as Gavin unhooked the back and hooped it around his neck, locked it in place.

Aleks reached up, tilted the charm up and realized it was a locket with a small clasp, which he immediately opened with his thumb nail, so careful that he was barely touching it. Engraved on the inside cover of the book were the words _My Diamond - GF_. Inside the locket itself was a small pocket, cushioned with a small slit, as if something was meant to go there.

“It looks lovely,” Gavin said proudly, when Aleks looked up, and he pulled another box out of his pocket, “My second condition is that, if you’re staying here, I want to leave this with you. I was going to have you wear it in Indonesia, but no reason to take it out of the country if you’re staying.”

“Is that…” Aleks, near breathless, watched Gavin open the box to reveal the red diamond ring everyone was so angry about. “Jesus Christ, Gav, you _brought that here_? Is that what I think it is?”

“Not exactly the Moussaieff Red, but yeah. The red’s not as big, but I’d price it close to the same for all that bling.” Gavin appraised, looking the ring over carefully. The band itself was golden, encrusted with an assortment of pale jewels. The red diamond in the middle was bigger than any that Aleks had ever seen before aside from the Moussaieff Red, encircled by smaller, regular diamonds. Gavin tilted it slowly in the light of the sun through the window so they could both see the way it shimmered before daftly plucking it from the box and carefully placing it within the locket, which he then closed. He pulled a small pick out of his shirt pocket, inserted it into the locket and twisted until there was a soft click.

“You’re _leaving_ this with _me_?” Aleks looked down, holding the locket in his palm so he could get another good look at it. It was heavier now, but just barely. If someone were to just glance at it, it looked like nothing more than a particularly thick charm with his initials. Flashy, to be sure, but what about Aleks wasn’t?

“What safer place to leave one of the most expensive diamonds in the world than with one of the most protected people in the world?” Gavin cupped his face lightly, looked him over with an approving smile, “Will you hold it for me, love? You know I don’t like to involve you with this part of the business but I can’t leave it with any of the other Fakes, they’re all being smeggy, and, really...such a jewel, it deserves to go to my diamond. Once we’ve taken care of Law, you can wear it proper.”

“Of course,” Aleks swallowed, felt the weight of that responsibility on his shoulders. He hadn’t felt anything this big since he was eighteen, when Gavin had signed over his company to him. “Yeah, of course, Gav. I’ll protect it. I won’t let you down.”

“Perfect,” Gavin grinned, letting his hands drop, “That’s my boy. I’ll keep this key with me, but you can jimmy it open if needed. Now, on to other things,”

He started talking about the security detail he would be hiring, how Aleks would _not_ leave their side, how he would _not_ put himself in danger, etcetera, etcetera, and Aleks just nodded, still overwhelmed.

This was...this was a lot. He wouldn’t let Gavin down.

-

Aleks hadn’t lived with Gavin and the others in nearly three months. He’d convinced Gavin to let Aleks rent a place of his own a few blocks away - still in the nice part of town, if a little less lavish, and not so far that Gavin couldn’t easily stop by or Aleks couldn’t easily walk over. He paid for it with his monthly allowance and the income he was making off of the work he did with their clients and it gave him a sense of freedom that he’d never really felt before but had started to crave a little after his twenty-fourth birthday.

As a kid, it hadn’t been a freedom to live on the streets and he’d luxuriated in the security and protection of the penthouse for over a decade before he’d finally felt comfortable living on his own. Gavin had been supportive, if a little worried, and they’d compromised by picking a building that Geoff owned - his rent was being siphoned into a savings account he wouldn’t have access to until he was thirty, _just in case_ \- that was close by and had a security team on the first floor, fifty-nine floors below.

He liked his place - it was a penthouse, too, though it only had the essentials. A pool, a small hot tub, a kitchen just big enough for Aleks to have a few people over for a party if he wanted. The living room, dining area, kitchen, and front room were all open layout and he had a view of the skyline from anywhere he stood because he was high up enough that he didn’t mind having a glass wall that spanned from the floor all the way to the ceiling and to either side of the main room. The glass wall overlooked the patio, pool and hot tub, and the area he and Gavin did yoga in, and the sunset was always beautiful. Gavin had installed colored lights in the pool and hot tub as a special surprise and if it wasn’t a shimmering blue then it sometimes slowly shifted through a rainbow of colors, the temperature lowering in the day and warming at night automatically. There were only four bedrooms, though, and Gavin had claimed one while Mishka had claimed the other, leaving only one guest room. He’d been a little worried about that at first, but Geoff had assured him that one guest room was the usual for their line of business.

To be fair, Geoff housed most of his main crew and, until three months ago, Aleks. He hadn’t had a guest room in eight years, and he wasn’t complaining. If it were up to Geoff, no one would ever talk to him ever and he could just live his life in peace with brief breaks to heist. He was kind of like Aleks’ very tired, very well-read uncle, and he got Aleks cool books all the time. Aleks wasn’t much of a reader, but Geoff actually asked about them so he did his best to read them, or just the SparkNotes if it came down to it.

All of this was to say that Aleks’ place was smaller than he was used to and, yet, so much emptier. He had Mishka, of course, and Brett and Trevor came over pretty often, and that wasn’t even counting how often his family dropped in. But he’d never had so much...alone time, before. And no, he didn’t want to go to Indonesia, but he was - nervous. To be on his own. For real, for the first time in...Jesus, over ten years. Gavin had always taken him with them when they left the country. On the rare occasion that he couldn’t, Aleks was packed up and sent to live with Barb or Elyse in Austin or LA until Gavin could come collect him. There had been one memorable occasion when he was fifteen that Gavin had asked Gus to look after him while Gavin and the rest pulled a heist in Jersey and Aleks had broken his arm running from some guys who had come after Gus. Gavin had...not been pleased, and he was only allowed to stay with Barb or Elyse from then on.

But _now_ \- he was twenty-four. He was on his own, financially steady and making his own income - even if it was supplemented by his allowance - and living the high life. Twelve year old him would have _hated_ who he was now but, hey, twelve year old him had hated anyone with enough money to eat semi-regular meals.

“A security detail?” Brett wrinkled his nose, “Are you still sixteen?”

“That’s what I’m sayin’!” Aleks collapsed into his couch, handing Brett’s beer to him with a deep frown, “But Gav _insists_.”

“Well, if Gavin _insists_ ,” Brett snorted, pressing the stem of the beer to his lips but not taking a drink yet, “Are they coming to the party?”

“ _No_ ,” Aleks fiercely denied, “I’m vetoing the invite.”

“Can you do that to a party you had no hand in?”

“Excuse you,” Aleks took a deep drink of his beer, tossed his legs on the crystal coffee table and resisted the urge to smile when Mishka excitedly jumped on the couch so she could lay her head in his lap. “I helped you make the guest list six months ago, fucker,”

“You mean you took the list of people I was going to invite and then worked your voodoo magic to make it so that half of them were no longer invited and a whole new group of people were.”

“I,” Aleks tried to think of how Gavin would put it, “Updated their bio in your little book and gave you a new page or two to look at.”

“You spilled the tea, is what you did,” Brett snorted, but finally took a drink and tossed his legs up, too. Trevor was sleeping in the guest room, he’d come over and passed the fuck out after a long day of balancing Aleks’ books, but he was bound to join them at some point.

“Ew,” Aleks wrinkled his nose back at him, “Are we high school girls, now?”

“Not much better,” Brett shrugged, scratched at Mishka’s ears until her leg was thumping the cushions. “Either way, how are you gonna go to the party if they aren’t allowed in and you aren’t allowed anywhere without them?”

“Well,” Aleks looked at Mishka’s dumb, dog grin and found himself smiling back, “What Gav doesn’t know won’t hurt him. I’ll pay ‘em off or something.”

“Anything you throw at them would be small beans on top of what Gavin’s paying, I’m sure,” Brett tapped the stem of his beer against his lip, “You’re rolling in it, I’ll give you that, but Gavin could Scrooge McDuck it if he wanted.”

“I’m not sayin’ I’ll double their pay, but who wouldn’t take a couple extra thou if they aren’t gonna get in trouble for it?” Aleks waved a hand, “It’s fine. I’ll figure something out. But, more importantly,” he turned toward Brett a little, “Got any new clients for me?”

Brett sighed, dramatic, but it was fond enough that Aleks knew he was kidding, and they settled in to talk business.

Gavin had turned all of his business ventures over to Aleks when he’d turned eighteen, both as a gift and as a test, and it was kind of the one thing in his life that Aleks took seriously. He could party with the best of them - and actively did - but business came first when he and Brett were together, and then they could hang out and chill.

Brett was Aleks’ best and oldest friend, both in terms of how long they’d known each other and actual years of Brett’s life. He’d met him through Gavin when he was seventeen and they’d worked together since Gavin had given Aleks his company. Brett brought Aleks clients for commissions and Aleks did a lot of loaning and investing for those clients. Trevor, who he’d met at one of Brett’s networking parties when Trev had come as a tag along with his uncle, was barely out of high school but had a way with numbers. No one else had wanted to hire him because of his uncle’s bad habit of stealing money from the companies he worked for, but Aleks had liked Trevor and snatched him up before anyone else had sniffed out his talent last year and hadn’t regretted it once.

This time was no different, and Aleks has four new people on his list to call in a few days by the time they were done. Trevor had woken up to join them at one point in the conversation and he sat in the recliner, beer in hand, just listening, until Aleks saved the note file he’d taken on his phone and heaved a big sigh.

“Thanks, dude. We’re in business, yet.” he clicked their beers together and they both downed the last dredges of their bottles at the same time.

“Just don’t forget to pay me,” Brett rolled his shoulders, relaxed into the couch and let his head fall against the back, empty bottle dangling from his fingers.

“I’ve never forgotten to pay either of you, _ever_ ,” Aleks pressed a hand to his heart, faux-offended, and Brett cracked a grin but didn’t look at him.

“Are we done talking boring shit now?” Trevor yawned, “Can we do something else?”

“Oh, sure, says the guy who just took a two hour nap,”

“It would have been longer but you called me and woke me up, so,”

“I needed your expert advice,” Aleks tried to look innocent, but Trevor just glared at him with squinting, tired eyes.

“You asked me to convert dollars to euros. Your fucking phone could have done that.”

“I don’t trust Google,” Aleks shrugged, and didn’t tell Trevor he’d actually woken him up because he and Brett had made a bet it would take more than one call to make him come out. Brett owed Aleks ten bucks, but Aleks would now have to deal with Trevor’s _mood_.

Trevor pulled a face, Brett laughed, and Aleks didn’t mind dealing with it at all, really, with Mishka’s tail beating the floor so hard it echoed and Brett and Trevor ribbing each other, the beers cold and plentiful.

They shot the shit for a while, until it was way too late and they were all way to drunk for Brett or Trevor to try to make it home. They passed out in his bed because it was bigger than the one in the guest room, Mishka at the foot, Brett passed out on one edge and Trevor on the other with Aleks in the middle sometime around three in the morning, stinking of booze.

“Hey,” Trevor mumbled, a little slurred and mostly into his pillows.

Aleks hummed in response, staring up at the ceiling. Brett snored loudly from his other side, but this was a familiar enough occurrence that he barely noticed, honestly. No one could beat out Jack’s snoring, and Aleks actually...kind of missed it. The sounds of other people. His friends came over pretty often, but didn’t usually stay the night - and Gavin and the rest of the Fakes had slowly stopped spending so many nights with him as he grew accustomed to being on his own.

“You gonna be okay?” Trevor patted the space between them comfortingly, “After they go?”

“I’ll be fine,” Aleks shrugged, too tired to do anything except answer the question.

“We’ll be over a lot,” Trevor yawned again, tips of his fingers actually brushing Aleks’ arms this time when he patted the bed, “‘s not lonely,”

“Thanks, Trev,” Aleks swallowed. He meant it.

Trevor snored in response, already asleep, and Aleks bit his lip against the smile. He stared up at the ceiling, kind of luxuriated in the people to either side of him.

He’d be fine without Gavin and the others.

He would be.

-

He took it back - he would absolutely not be fine.

“I’ll be fine,” He said, again, at the center of the semi-circle of his family. There was a tightness in his chest, a panic he didn’t want to think about or let them know about, but holy _shit he would not be fine_.

“You can always come with us,” Jack hugged him, big and strong and burly and enveloping Aleks in a familiar, warm embrace that Aleks didn’t want to break first. He did, though, because Jack would never let him go if given the chance.

“I know,” Aleks smiled, “But you guys are gonna go do...stuff, and I’m gonna hang out here. It’ll be totally normal.”

“Normal,” Michael scoffed, tugging him into a tight, one armed hug and slipping a knife into his pocket. Aleks knew it was a knife because Michael had given him hundreds at this point - he gave Aleks a knife every time they said goodbye.

“It will be!” He protested, shoved at the panic and pulled the trick Gavin had always told him to, buried it deep and focused on the excitement of his future plans, “Brett’s party is gonna rake in a lot of cash, man,”

“My guy,” Jeremy sighed, and he was passed from Michael to Jeremy with a familiar ease. The Gents used to swing him around, when he was short and small enough, but then he’d hit puberty at fourteen and they’d had to stop because of the growth spurt, but the Lads had never quite given it up since Michael and Jeremy were both bulky enough to actually lift him, “We’re fuckin’ loaded. You don’t need any more money.”

Aleks sighed loudly, but let Jeremy look him over and then squeeze him tight enough to hurt before letting go. Ray didn’t hug him, but he’d put his phone down and he gave him an approving nod.

“You’re right, man. You’ll be fine. YOLO, get it? Fuck up, have fun.”

“That’s what I’m _saying_ ,”

“Shut up,” Geoff reached out, gripped his upper arms in a tight hold and looked him over again, like Jeremy’s look wasn’t good enough, pulled him into a tight hug, “You’ll be okay. We’re just a phone call and a plane ride away. You can join us any time.”

“Geoff, I can’t call you. Only my security team has your number, for emergencies and you’ll be on the move every day,”

“I’ve shown you how to pick phones,” Ryan scoffed, arms crossed and frowning, “Call if you need us.”

“I _will_ ,” Aleks groaned, and didn’t say _Come home now_.

“Stop coddling him, all of you,” Gavin flapped his hands, broke Geoff’s grip on Aleks, “You’re _spoiling_ him -”

“ _Us_!?” Michael demanded loudly, “ _We’re_ spoiling him!?”

“Yes,” Gavin said primly, taking Aleks’ hands in his, “Now, leave me with my pupil,”

“Oh my god,” Geoff shook his head, “Jesus Christ, _pupil_. Bye, Aleks, fuckin’ shit,”

“Bye, Aleks,” Jeremy waved, bouncing on his feet, “Take care of yourself, be careful, don’t heist without us,”

“I don’t heist, Jeremy,” Aleks said, fond, and Jeremy sighed like he was disappointed.

“A man can dream, can’t he? I’ll get you on one of our jobs soon,”

“Jeremy, you will _not_ ,” Gavin said firmly, “Stop corrupting him, Jeremy!”

“ _Corrupting_ \- Gavin, he’s a part of the Fakes!” Jack laughed, full and loud, and a few people shot them looks and then quickly stopped when they realized who it was making all of the noise in the airfield’s building.

“Not in underhanded capacities,” Gavin pulled Aleks closer protectively, “Now, I need a proper talk with him so,”

“We get it, we get it,” Geoff raised his hands in “Don’t chase us off before we can say goodbye, though,”

“You’re coming _back_ ,” Aleks pointed out, grinning, and Geoff waved it away.

“Still. Come’ere kid,”

Gavin, with a heaving sigh, released him, and he was soundly enveloped in another hug, this time by Geoff.

Geoff was always warm. Of all the Fakes, he’d been the first one that Gavin had shown him to and he’d always had a soft spot for Aleks that made Aleks feel safe. Even now, at twenty-four, Aleks still liked when Geoff hugged him and ruffled his hair like had when Gavin had first told him he was taking Aleks in.

“Stay safe, kid,” Geoff mumbled and Aleks, flushed, nodded.

The others all said their goodbyes, too; mostly hugs because the Fakes were a very physical group. Michael patted his pocket knowingly, like Aleks had already forgotten the weight of the knife, Ray rolled his eyes at Michael and made a rude motion behind his back that had Aleks laughing, even Ryan quietly slipped in to give him a piece of notebook paper with five phone numbers written on it.

“If you need help,” Ryan explained, “These are Meg’s burners.”

“Oh,” Aleks hesitated, “Is it okay if I have these?”

“Use them if you need them.” Ryan patted his head awkwardly - he’d never been very good at the whole physical affection thing, but the head patting had kind of become their thing and Aleks loved it.

Finally, though, everyone had said their goodbyes and warnings, given him what they wanted to give him, and they filed away toward their jet together, talking amongst themselves.

Aleks watched them go, tried to look happy when any of them glanced back at him, but went easily when Gavin turned him around to face him with his hands holding onto his upper arms firmly, close to how Geoff had held him in place.

“Aleks,” Gavin smoothed his hands down Aleks’ arms, fixed his dress jacket and straightened the loose tie at his neck, “You’re _sure_ you want to stay?”

“ _Yes_ , Gav,” Aleks confirmed, even though part of him quite desperately wanted to say _no_.

Gavin sighed, long-suffering, but nodded. “Okay. If you insist. This party better be the best damn party you’ve ever gone to.”

“It will be,” Aleks hesitated for a long minute, “You _are_ coming back, right?”

“In three weeks,” Gavin said immediately, “We’re gonna rush this thing, hopefully be back in a little over two, but no later than three.”

Yeah, okay. Three weeks wasn’t bad. Aleks could totally handle three weeks on his own.

A small part of him that sounded suspiciously like himself as a child whispered that he would totally not handle three weeks on his own. That Gavin and the others were leaving to get away from _him_. That this was all just an elaborate ruse to finally shed themselves of Aleks after so long taking care of him.

He shook the thought away. He could, at the very least, recognize that they loved him, now. It had taken a lot of years and a lot of tears and fights and Gavin practically coating his skin in as many diamonds as they could afford or steal, but Aleks knew.

“Now listen,” Gavin reached up, brushed his fingers along Aleks’ jaw until he was close to cupping his ear, resting the dangling diamond earing against his palm. The pair had been the first gift Gavin had ever got him, and he never took them out unless it was for a disguise or particular party.

“You have to protect yourself while we’re gone,” Gavin said, and it was a gentle tone that he rarely used in front of the others, fond and worried and it made Aleks feel - wanted. “No sneaking off without your security, no late night strolls, no disappearing with strangers to try the newest drug on the market.”

“I know,” Aleks nodded, “I promise, Gav.”

“We both know how much promises mean,” Gavin said lightly, but he was right. And Aleks wouldn’t break his promise. Once Brett’s party was over, he wouldn’t try to slip away from his security detail even once. “Just remember, Aleks,” Gavin stroked the diamond with his thumb and then dropped his hand back to Aleks’ shoulder, “You are my diamond, and I would burn this city to the ground for you and that would make Geoffrey _very_ upset.”

Aleks blinked hard, his eyes suddenly burning.

“I know.” he tried to say, but his voice got a little high toward the end so he cleared his throat and tried again, “I know.”

And it had taken a long time, but he meant it.

“Good,” Gavin smiled, patted his cheek, “Now, I’ve hired the best in the field. They’ll be waiting outside but I’ve asked them to keep their distance. I know how much you like your privacy.”

“Thanks,” Aleks reached up, pressed his hand to Gavin’s, “Thanks for letting me stay, Gav.”

“I don’t control you,” Gavin scoffed, “You’re an adult now, love. Make your own decisions, all that.”

“Still,” Aleks hesitated, “I won’t let you down.”

Gavin, after a long moment of just looking at Aleks, finally let his hands drop and stepped away. It looked like it had been a struggle, and that Gavin was letting him see that struggle meant - a lot. “Of course not, love. Now, off we go. Tell the rest of the family they’re scummy knobheads, if they call.”

“I will,” Aleks nodded, and didn’t move as Gavin turned to walk away. Gavin didn’t look back, not until he was on the stairs of the jet. Even then, it was only for a brief moment, to wave before disappearing into the jet.

Aleks waved back, didn’t stop until the jet had taken off. He watched it go, until it was barely a speck in the sky, until it was gone.

Then he found a place to sit, covered his face with his hands, and tried to get a hold of himself.

Fuck, he was a goddamn adult. He shouldn’t be acting like Gavin had fuckin’ - kicked him back out on the streets. He wasn’t headed back to some orphanage or never gonna see them again. It was a three week separation and, even if there would be no contact, he knew he’d see them again.

Still, part of him was terrified they’d fuckin’ - fall in love with Indonesia, or something, and never come back. Or that something would happen and they’d fucking die, and he’d be stuck here with all this money and this city and none of the people that had taken him in, given him a home, shown him that there was even a reason to want the city.

He sat for a long time, not bothered by anyone because everyone had seen him with the Fakes and knew better than to mess with him. At some point, he pulled his new locket out, gripped it tight in the palm of his hand until the edges dug in a little, just breathed in and out slow until he was calm.

He already wanted to text one of them, just to know he could reach them, but they’d be off the grid for the full three weeks. They had one point of contact, and Aleks’ security team would have it to use for absolute emergencies, but that was it. He looked at the paper Ryan had given him, and then carefully programmed the numbers into his phone under ‘Doll.’ He hadn’t seen Meg in a while because she and Lindsey were on a mission for Geoff on the other side of the country, and the rest of the crew that Aleks knew were also going underground until the whole red diamond thing cooled down. Essentially, he was on his own; but he had these numbers, and he had Fakehaus in LA if things came to a head that he couldn’t handle. They may have been mad at Gavin, but Elyse would never turn him away. Even if he _felt_ alone, he wasn’t.

He felt...kind of better as he finally got up and headed for the entrance - still depressed and lonely and not at all happy about them leaving, even if he’d _thought_ he was gonna love the freedom of not having the most dangerous gang in Achievement City watching his every move, but at least not completely alone.

He hesitated at the gates, still staring at the screen of his phone. He’d driven with the Fakes to the field, and he’d planned to call Brett to come get him but part of him kind of wanted to walk. In his suit and jewels, he would stand out on the street for a while, though, which was kind of the opposite of the point that Gavin had made to him about staying low.

He was still contemplating his options - Brett, walking, just calling an Uber that was probably a lot closer than Brett - when he stepped outside and, within a few feet of the door, ran into someone.

His phone slipped out of his hands like water and, with horror, Aleks watched it fall. There was a sick moment where time froze - that instinctive terror that came with watching your phone tumble to the concrete. He was going to have to get a new one - and he’d have to wait for Gavin to come back so he could get it properly encrypted. Nothing on it was fucking transferable - the numbers, the pictures, the texts, the notes, the _clients_ -

And then a hand appeared, snatched it out of the air before it hit the ground. Aleks’ heart started again, the world returned to normal speeds.

Jesus Christ.

“Holy,” He pressed a hand to his chest, “Fuck,”

“I’ll say,” A man said, sounding amused, “Don’t watch where you’re going often?”

“Excuse me,” Aleks looked up, frowning, and then stopped just long enough to take in the man he’d bumped into.

He was tall but not taller than Aleks, or not by much if he was; dark hair in a tight bun with sunglasses perched on his head, raised eyebrows, big brown eyes and a small grin. He had a short beard, groomed, and wore a nice, if cheap, black suit with an open jacket and a white shirt, shoulders slumped and one hand shoved in his pocket. There was a gun at his hip, hidden but Aleks knew what to look for, and a loose earbud coming out of the neckline of his button up.

Aleks, after a moment of staring at the man, slumped, “You’re my security.”

“I’m your security,” he agreed, offering Aleks’ phone back to him.

Aleks took it, shoved it into his pocket, wrinkled his nose up. Now that he was looking properly, he could see more people behind the man, and a black SUV with tinted windows. There were four other people, all in matching black suits, standing by the SUV in stiff, firm stances with their hands in front of them and their feet shoulder length apart. Aleks could see that they were all concealed carrying and, if he squinted, he thought he could make out little earbuds like the loose one on the man. They looked like someone had plucked each of them out of a bad action movie and dropped them right in Aleks’ sight. They would be more in place stationed around a mansion, not standing outside an airfield and waiting for him.

There was a woman, small with long hair tied up, bracketed by two guys; one tall one who didn’t look old enough to be out of school, let alone a member of a high security team, with a lot of curly hair; the other shorter, with a short beard and a friendly smile on his face. Standing by the driver’s door was the last guy, short blond hair and no expression on his face. All of them wore sunglasses that covered most of their face.

“Great,” Aleks rubbed his eyes like he was tired, hoped that he hadn’t looked like he was about to fucking cry as he walked out, “Okay, cool. I’m Aleks. I thought you were gonna...not be near me.”

“James,” the man offered a hand and, after a moment, Aleks shook it - firm, once, but not as firm as James’, just like he was taught. Never be the strongest person in the room, even during a handshake. “We _weren’t_ close, but you, again, walked into me because you weren’t looking. So, it was kinda your fault.”

Aleks hummed, decided to see how far he could push him, if only to make himself feel better, “Nah, I don’t think that’s what happened. You’re _kinda_ supposed to get out of _my_ way, not the other way around. Anyway,” he continued, interrupting James before he could talk, “I need to get home, so I’m gonna go do that.”

“That’s what the car’s for,” James said, still smiling, but the lines around his eyes had tightened. Aleks, a little more in his element, looked at the SUV and wrinkled his nose. It was at least four years old, armored but ugly. “No, thanks. I’d rather not.”

“It’s really not safe -”

“Ah,” Aleks stopped him with a hand, “Look, I know Gav’s paying you probably a lot of money. I get it, it’s your job or whatever. We all have jobs. But I don’t want you near me, you don’t want to be near me, trust me on that, - so let’s work together here. You leave me alone, I won’t tell Gav you left me alone, you get paid, maybe I pay you a little extra for reducing your troubles, everyone’s,” he smirked, “Golden.”

“I really gotta insist here, man,” James said lightly, still smiling.

“Ha,” Aleks faked a laugh, and the twitch at James’ eyebrow told him James could see exactly how fake it was, “Well, you know, I...don’t really care?”

He started walking, passed James by with a pat on the shoulder, “See you around, man. Thanks for catching my phone. You’ve got fast reflexes.”

He expected it when it happened, this wasn’t his first security detail, and dodged out of the way when James tried to catch him, “But, uh, not that fast. You can ride with me when my ride gets here, if you’re that serious about it but, uh, just stay over here until then. I don’t want people to see us together, you know?”

He grinned wider, waved a little at James - who still had the smile, but was obviously holding onto it with every fiber of his being, fist clenched in the air where Aleks had been - and pulled his phone out to speed dial Brett.

“Hey, man,” He said when Brett answered with a gruff rumble of noise instead of words, a sure sign that he’d woken him up, “Can you send someone to pick me up?”

“I’m already on my way,” Brett said, put-upon.

“This is why you’re my best friend.” Aleks looked up at the sky, feeling normal. It wasn’t that he was a dick to people so often that it was how he felt normal but...he couldn’t say that wasn’t true, either.

“I hate you.” Brett said in response and hung up. Aleks, slipping his phone back in his pockets did his best to hold back a relieved sigh. Yes. Yes, everything would be fine.

James watched him like a hawk, that forced smile on his face, while Aleks waited by the road for nearly ten minutes.

When Brett pulled up, James started for the car but Aleks just shot him the bird and got in. Brett’s car was nice - a slick sporty that had just been released, but not quite to the public yet.

“You could have just got an Uber,” Brett said blandly, watching tiredly as Aleks rolled the window down and waved at his security detail.

James was nearly on them, looking just a little pissed, and Aleks couldn’t help but grin smugly.

“You’re a better ride, man. Now, get me out of here before my fucking bodyguard catches up.”

Brett, with another deep sigh, floored it and they spun out and then away, toward the city. Through the back window, Aleks saw James get fucking covered in dust and dirt.

Maybe the SUV caught up at some point, but neither Aleks nor Brett looked to see. Aleks was too busy laughing to really care.

-

When he called down at the front desk after Brett dropped him off, he let them know he had a new security team and described James, but told them not to let any of them up the private elevator, and then he laid down on his couch with a rum and coke and Mishka, covered his face with his arm, and tried to come to terms with the fact that, for the first time since he was thirteen, he didn’t have anyone watching over him.

It felt...weird. Good, in the sense that he was an adult and he liked his privacy; Bad, in the sense that he missed Gavin sending him pictures of odd things. He missed Geoff texting him nightly about the book they were supposed to be reading together, and Jack sending him home-cooked food via bemused Uber employees. He missed Ryan showing up on his landing without ever having used his front door just to use his pool because he liked it better than Geoff’s, and he missed Ray sending him memes, and Jeremy calling him every night to ask him how his day was, even when he knew that all Aleks had done was party and pass out, and he missed Michael blowing up his phone to tell him about whatever stupid thing Gavin had done that day. And the worst part was that he missed those things and hadn’t even gone without them, yet. They’d only been gone for a few hours, but just knowing that he wouldn’t have any of those things for three weeks made him - sad.

Aleks did not like to be sad. He was sure it was some mental thing, something to do with his tragic past and fear of abandonment, probably a healthy dose of anxiety and depression, but those were Poor People feelings that he didn’t have to deal with if he didn’t want to ever again, so he just shot the rum and coke, tried to keep it down and patted Mishka’s head when he was successful after a sick minute when he thought he was gonna hurl it back up.

He flicked through Netflix for a while, settled on watching some fucking Forensic Files and told himself it was research in case he ever had to commit a crime - which, with his family, was going to happen eventually - and not because he was depressed and lonely.

Kinda buzzed, sleepy, and ready for the day to be over, he was just barely about to pass out on the couch for a solid night’s sleep when there was a sharp rap against his door.

He ignored it, intent on pretending the rest of the world didn’t exist until the sun came back up and he was forced to. A second, more insistent, knocking echoed loud enough that Mishka made a low, gruff barking noise against his leg and sat up. Enough people knocked that she’d ignore it if it wasn’t loud enough but, fuck, if there was a third one, she’d lose her mind.

With a loud, annoyed groan, he rolled off his couch and stood up, straightening out his clothes and pausing in front of the mirror by his door to check his hair, do his best to fix it, and then rub at the make up under his eyes to blend it a little. He needed to go clean his face before he fell asleep anyway, so maybe he should be thankful to whoever the _fuck_ had managed to get to his door at - he checked his phone - midnight.

He checked door cam before he pressed on the speaker button, huffed out an annoyed sigh when he saw it was James. Specifically, the only person he’d said _not_ to let into the elevator.

He pressed the button, watched with a little amusement as the speaker alert sounded suddenly enough to make James jump.

“You aren’t allowed up here, man,” He said, “Go away. I thought we had a deal.”

“Look,” James turned slow, zeroed in on the speaker and camera a lot quicker than most, and then stared at it, smile back in place and as relaxed as it had been in the first place. Something about that, that James had just shrugged him off, pulled at Aleks’ strings. Annoyed him. “You either let me in so I can sweep the place before I set my team up for the night, _or_ I use the key Mister Free gave me while you’re sleeping and I sweep the place while you’re passed out. Pick the one you like because those are your options.”

“Gavin didn’t give you a key,” Aleks accused, glaring at the screen. James, grin widening smugly, held up a small knob to an electronic lock.

After a second of _glaring_ , Aleks finally smoothed his face out, said, “Fine,” pleasantly, and unlocked the door to let him in.

He wasn’t expecting a gun in his face when he opened the door, but really, he kind of deserved it and he could admit that.

Still, it wasn’t the first time he’d been betrayed and it wouldn’t be the last. He knew how to handle this, though he’d never had to do it for long.

He went still, settled an appeasing expression on his face.

“I don’t think you were paid to shoot me,” He joked, gentle, “At least, uh, not by Gavin.”

“No,” James cocked the gun, that grin still on his face, “But, if I had been, then you’d be dead right now.”

He dropped the gun, pointed it at the ground, “You should have made me use the key. What if someone had been with me that you couldn’t see? That camera goes - what, five feet around? Hiding out of sight would be easy.”

“You pointed a gun at me,” Aleks dropped his smile, “You can’t -”

“I can,” James glanced over his shoulder, “Did you hide the strippers and coke? I need to clear the place before we can settle for the night.”

“I don’t have _strippers and coke_ , this isn’t Playboy.”

“Sure,” James holstered his gun, fixed his shirt, “Gonna invite me in, Mister Playboy?”

“Do I have a choice?” Aleks rolled his eyes, but he stepped aside and James sauntered in, too smug for Aleks’ liking. He’d pointed a _gun_ at him. Aleks had thought he was going to get fucking _shot_.

At the risk of sounding a little too much like another very rich platinum blond boy; Gavin would hear about this.

“No, guess not.” James paused in the entryway, looked around with a mild expression on his face, “Nice place.”

“Can you just,” Aleks grumbled, shutting and locking the door, “Do what you need to do and get out? I was trying to sleep.”

James glanced at him, hummed a _sure_ noise after a moment of staring and headed for the kitchen.

Gun-crazy or not, James had to know better than to steal from Aleks of all people, so Aleks left him to - sweep the apartment or whatever he was doing. He disappeared down the hall, into his room and then his en suite to take his makeup off. He hadn’t just been saying that to get James to leave faster; Gavin would kill him if he stopped his skin care routine for two nights in a row just because he was depressed. Self-care was the Free motto.

He hadn’t worn much today, just a base and eyeliner, just enough to not shame the Free family name by looking anything but amazing in public, and it didn’t take long to take it all off. He’d been doing this for years, since Gavin had shown him the magic of a little foundation and mascara, and it was relaxing, in a way. He liked the process of it, sitting at his counter with some remover wipes and slowly wiping everything away so he could wash his face, use a cleansing gel, and then moisturize.

He was still rubbing cream into his cheeks and forehead when there was a light knock on the door.

“You still in there, man?” James called through the door and, annoyed, Aleks huffed silently before answering.

“Are you done digging through my things?”

“Yep,” James knocked twice, “I just need to sweep this room and I’ll get out of your finely styled hair.”

“You have to sweep my _bathroom_?”

“Do I sound like I’m kidding?” James knocked again, and Aleks groaned out loud and grabbed the door handle.

He paused before he opened it, frowned at the door.

“Are you going to try to shoot me again if I open the door?”

“You’re learning,” James said, sounding amused and approving all at once. Aleks was always a slut for approval, but it just irritated him this time around. “No, I’m not going to _shoot you_.”

“See, that’s what I thought - god _damn it_!” Aleks threw his hands up, glaring hard into the barrel of the gun in his face.

“You’ve known me for about six hours, you’ve talked to me for about five minutes total, _and_ you’ve been pissing me off since we met,” James tapped his forehead with the barrel, Aleks’ heart _swooped_ , and then James dropped the gun and holstered it again, “Why the fuck are you trusting me right now?”

“Because I’m an _idiot_ ,” Aleks glared harder when James looked at him instead of the room, “Stop looking at me and do your fucking job if you’re so obsessed with keeping me safe!”

“Trust me,” James sighed, shouldering past him to look around, “It’s the payday I’m after, not keeping you safe.”

“Hardy har,” Aleks crossed his arms, refused to feel vulnerable with this fucking stranger in his bathroom. He felt exposed, without his makeup and his nice clothes. He’d taken his jewelry off, he was in _sweatpants_ \- designer or not - and James hadn’t exactly caught him on his best day. All around, his new bodyguard seemed to be doing his best to throw Aleks off and Aleks didn’t fucking appreciate it. He reached up without really thinking about it, gripped his locket in his palm. It calmed him down, relaxed him. Like Gavin always said; the clothes and the makeup made them pretty, but it wasn’t what made them powerful. Aleks had all of the power here, even if James had the gun.

“Looks good to me,” James turned back around, gave him a quick once-over and then nodded, “You’re set for the night, Mister Free.”

“It’s _Aleks_ ,” Aleks said tightly, “Gav is Mister Free.”

James paused, just long enough that Aleks knew he’d thrown him off, and then nodded, “Yeah, okay, sure. You’re set for the night, Aleks.”

“...thanks.” Aleks motioned and James left the bathroom, Aleks close behind. Mishka wasn’t allowed in the bathroom, but she set at the door of the bedroom with her tail thumping the floor slow and then suddenly rapid as she realized they’d noticed her.

“Good dog,” James commented, sounding a little less bored, “She trained?”

“Not as a guard dog,” Aleks hesitated, then called her over with a snap, and she shot up and trotted to them, excited to get attention. “Her name is Mishka and if something happens in this apartment, you get her out first. Not that I’m expecting anything to but, just in case, you should know.”

“Get the _dog_ out,” James started, turning to him, but Aleks was serious. Mishka wasn’t a game to him, and she wouldn’t be to the fuckers in charge of clearing the apartment if something did happen.

“I mean it. You want to get paid and something happens in this place, you save her.” Aleks dropped to his haunches, scrubbed the side of her face and couldn’t help but laugh when she went limp and let him do it, panting happily, tail still going a mile a minute. “She’s the best and I will kill you myself if something happens to her, man,”

“Well…” James carefully reached out, patted her head awkwardly and Aleks looked up at him seriously. James met his eye, and that stupid grin was gone but he kinda looked serious, too. “Look, I’ll put Joe on her if something happens. Stop looking at me like I’m trying to kill your fuckin’ dog, dude,”

“Which one is Joe?” Aleks accepted her when she tried to jump on him, resting her front legs on his shoulders so she could pant gross breath in his face, just turned his head up so she wasn’t licking his nose or lips.

“Uh,” James hesitated, “The stupid smiling one.”

“Oh,” Aleks thought for a moment, tried to remember who he’d seen. He’d kind of wiped them from his memory after Brett had driven away. “Okay. As long as he watches her.”

“He likes dogs,” James said with a shrug, and that was all he seemed willing to say on the matter. “Enjoy your night, Aleks.”

“What, no more surprise visits? Gonna wake me up at three am to sweep for bugs again?”

“Maybe,” James shrugged again, and didn’t look like he was joking.

He walked out of the room while Aleks was still staring, and Aleks hurriedly set Mishka down and followed him, a last thought occurring to him right as James unlocked the front the door to leave.

“Hey, wait,” Aleks reached out, didn’t _touch_ \- but caught his attention before he walked out, “Uh, yeah, the whole key thing isn’t working out. I’m gonna need that from you.”

“How do I get in if there’s an emergency?” James raised his eyebrow, “I just had to bribe your doorman to get in here, and I’m not exactly rolling in it, man. You aren’t locked up in Fort Knox.”

“There isn’t gonna _be_ an emergency,” Aleks held out his hand, “I’m gonna be safe up here in my penthouse, you’re gonna be downstairs - _not_ in my penthouse. And, also, not in my life. Key, dude.”

James, with an annoyed glower, pulled the electronic fob out of his pocket and held it out.

Aleks moved to grab it, a little relieved at how easy that was. His hand was just curling around the fob, skin brushing the plastic when, faster than he’d moved earlier, James snatched it back out of the air and pocketed it again.

“You’re fast,” James smiled, a different kind of smile than before, a little more fucking smug, “But, uh, not that fast. Have a good night, Aleks. Maybe I’ll see you around three am.”

“Fuck you,” Aleks managed to spit back, just in time for James to close his own goddamn door in his face.

Trying not to scowl, Aleks angrily locked his door and then stomped back toward the bedroom, Mishka hot on his heels and delighted with all the excitement. Tonight was a bubble bath and face mask kind of night, or James was going to make him look like Geoff by the end of this.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these chapters are SO SHORT??? im...kind of in to it, but i have no idea how many there are gonna be bc im kind of just...cutting them off when it Feels right? rip
> 
>  
> 
> thank u to [kenn](http://allrighthello.tumblr.com/), [tay](http://nealinator.tumblr.com/), and [phoenix](http://amanduh-hess.tumblr.com/), who are far too kind to me.
> 
> you can find me at on [Tumblr](http://the-cockbite-syndicate.tumblr.com/) if you'd like! I post fake/gta!au stuff :)

Aleks had hoped, with cucumbers on his eyes and a face mask on and a warm, nice smelling bath, that he wouldn’t have to deal much with James after that. He could handle him sweeping the apartment at night, keeping his distance during the day, not bothering him. He hadn’t even introduced his team - just _Joe_ , who would be in charge of Mishka, and Aleks was only kind of sure he knew which one that was if he thought really hard about the people he’d barely glanced at - so, obviously, James seemed to have the same idea.

Aleks had hoped, but he must not have hoped hard enough because here he was, in broad daylight, sitting at their usual table with Brett and Aleks in their usual seat but a newcomer - fucking _James_ \- sitting between them.

He wasn’t even wearing the right _clothes_ , they were getting _looks_ because James had shown up in a suit jacket, slacks, and a ragged tee that he may or may not have stolen from a homeless man. He _may_ have got away with the look - Aleks wasn’t exactly known for staying within the bounds of fashion, either - but he’d sealed the deal on Most Interested Thing To Stare At when he’d loudly thunked his feet on the goddamn table like a _heathen_ and settled into his chair to play what Aleks was pretty sure was Flappy Bird or some variation of it two years after that game was fucking defunct.

Had he been with anyone else, he would have been kicked out by now, but he was with Aleks and Brett, as annoying as that was, and they came regularly enough and paid enough that Aleks’...guest was allowed to get away with it.

“Have your date, or whatever,” James had waved him away without looking when Aleks had demanded he _leave_ , “I’m not even paying attention.”

“If you’re not paying attention,” Brett had pointed out, “Then there’s no point in you being here anyway, since you won’t notice something happening.”

“Hey,” James hadn’t even glanced up, “You do your job, I’ll do mine. You can bitch when he’s dead but, until then, my team’s doin’ great.”

Aleks, horrified, had looked around and - yes. James’ team was _around_. The blond man was by the door to the kitchen, sunglasses perched on his head and a bored expression on his face while the smiling guy, Joe, was by the entrance, just…leaning against the wall. A few tables over, now that Aleks was looking, he recognized the woman - an untouched bowl of fruit in front of her and, if he craned a little, he could see the suit of who he assumed was the tall guy standing outside, just out of sight of the window they were in front of.

He hadn’t even noticed them.

“Pleasant,” Brett had sighed and, now, here they were. Lunch had been awkward, neither of them quite sure how to go about talking with James such an obvious intrusion into their routine, and it hadn’t been until stilted conversation had slowly shifted to the party that Aleks finally relaxed enough to shift focus from his sushi.

“You think it’ll be like last year?”

“Last year, _someone_ got so drunk that their uncle had to bribe three cops to keep him out of prison.”

Aleks, grinning, let the dig roll off his shoulders. “Yeah, but that someone got the money back, didn’t they?”

“They _also_ ,” Brett pointed out, “Pretty much got grounded. Geoff didn’t let you out of the penthouse for like three weeks.”

“Hm,” Aleks tapped his lips with the tips of his chopsticks lightly, “I don’t remember that part.”

“Because you were _drunk_ the whole time!” Brett laughed, leaning back in his chair with an exasperated shake of his head, “Jesus, you were hungover for a week straight.”

“I swore I’d never drink again,” Aleks recalled, “Ryan dried me out and then Jeremy brought me a fuckin’ truckload of whiskey once Geoff had forgiven me.”

“Disgusting,” Brett wrinkled his nose, “No. No alcohol at my party. It’s been decided, we’re all going straightedge.”  
“Brett,” Aleks pressed a hand to his heart, “What the fuck, man, what - I can’t even, _straightedge_ ,”

“What would you do if you could remember a goddamn party?” Brett stole one of his cucumber rolls and Aleks let him in exchange for taking some of Brett’s rice

They’d been having these lunches together for so long that, at this point, Aleks only ordered the cucumber because Brett liked them and Brett always got an extra order of rice for Aleks to pick at.

“Probably be a lot less full of myself,” Aleks said around his chopsticks, grinning wide enough that Brett laughed out loud.

“You? Mister Diamond Boy? Full of yourself? No way,” Brett scoffed, nudging Aleks’ leg with his foot, “You’re the perfect amount of full of yourself.”

“Tell that to Geoff,” Aleks said thoughtfully and they both had a second where they tried to straight-face each other before they both lost it.

It felt good to laugh. He really had been...something, about Gavin leaving. About all of them leaving, and the whole living alone thing. But at least he still had Brett, and Trevor, with him.

Even if it meant he had to deal with a nosy, mentally deranged wanna-be bodyguard breaking into his apartment with a gun to his head.

So, yeah, it felt good to laugh. To be with Brett, like everything was normal. They had the party tonight, and then he’d spend the next few weeks locked up safe in his apartment with the stupid ring, but Brett and Trevor wouldn’t just leave him to rot away until Gavin came back.

“Is he the one that gave you the new bling?” Brett asked, pointing with his fork and Aleks looked down without thinking about it, pulled the locket up so Brett could lean forward and get a better look at it. Brett whistled, raising his eyebrows, “I take it back. That’s a Gavin gift.”

“Yep,” Aleks couldn’t help but smile, stroking the top of the locket with his thumb, feeling the small bumps of the jewels, the grooves where the lettering of his initials was, “He said it was an apology for dragging me to Indonesia.”

“Looks expensive,” Brett took a drink, sitting back in his chair, “Is it a locket?”

“Yeah,” Aleks touched the small lever that would open the lid but didn’t press down. It was locked but, on the off chance it wasn’t, he didn’t wanna flash the ring to the whole place. “He had it made with a place for a ring? He wants me to wear that one thing, you know?”

“Christ,” Brett’s eyes widened, looked around quickly to make sure they weren’t being overheard. The place was quiet, but not so quiet that their voices were standing out. Still, Brett dropped his voice. “He wants you to _wear that_?”

“After he takes out,” Aleks shrugged, “The guy. Says it doesn’t belong anywhere except on his diamond.”

Brett rolled his eyes, hard, but he looked amused. “He’s so _soft_.”

“Maybe,” Aleks smiled a little wider, “I dunno what to tell you. He loves me, I guess.”

“You _guess_ ,” Brett sighed, disgusted, and finished off his drink, “You’re a fucking Cinderella story and I hate you.”

“Maybe,” Aleks repeated, flushing a little. He wouldn’t describe himself as a _Cinderella_ story, but he could see the comparisons.

Brett gave in, stole another cucumber roll, and the conversation drifted away from a risky subject like Law and the ring and back toward the party and Brett’s ongoing feud over client sniping with Joel from Fakehaus.

James didn’t say much, but he started to get antsy an hour into their lunch and, the third time that he shifted his feet on the goddamn table, Brett steepled his fingers together with a bland smile and glanced at James before turning back to Aleks. Aleks, who had broken three pieces of sushi with his aggressive chopsticking as he got more and more irritated with his bodyguard, returned it and the conversation drew to a close.

“It’s my turn to pick up the bill,” Brett set his fork down and finished his drink off with a final sip, “Think I can trust you not to get kidnapped before tonight?”

“Don’t be an asshole,” Aleks wrinkled his nose up, pulling his wallet out for the tip and slapping a fifty on the table, “Just try to remember who is and isn’t allowed in and we should be fine.”

“No promises,” Brett smirked at him and Aleks stood up with a hard roll of his eyes. Brett liked to fucking joke, but Aleks trusted that he’d keep _certain people_ out of his house tonight.

Aleks didn’t flinch when James loudly dropped his feet from the table and stood up with a scrap of his chair against the tiled floor, mostly because he refused to allow James to see that he was irritating him, but Brett pulled a face.

“You're not exactly subtle, are you?”

James pocketed his phone, smiled that _smile_ that was fast becoming some sort of trigger for Aleks’ _hatred_ , “Dunno what you mean, man.”

Brett hummed in response, unimpressed, “Good luck, Aleks. See you tonight.”

“If I don't commit a murder-suicide,” Aleks grumbled, roughly shoving off the guiding hand James put on his hip, “I can find my own way out, thanks!”

James, still fucking smiling, put one hand up in surrender, “Sorry, you just almost ran into a server.”

Aleks glanced over his shoulder and gave a tight-lipped smile at the meek lady behind him, precariously balancing a few empty glasses, “Sorry.”

She mumbled something that sounded close to _It’s okay_ , and then scurried away.

“Bit of a habit, huh?” James said, sounding amused, and Aleks gave him a hard glare before turning on his heels to leave.

The rest of James’ team wasn’t in sight anymore, had run away while Aleks had been distracted, and Aleks barely held back a _fuck off_ in response. Instead, he just left.

James huffed out a laugh and it made Aleks’ blood boil, but he took it in stride. James wasn’t the worst thing he’d ever dealt with. Maybe one of them, but he had a number of peers far more annoying. He just had to keep thinking that. It could be worse.

It could be worse.

It got worse. Specifically, it got worse when he stopped at his car and went to pull his keys out - only to find them missing.

“What -” he started to say, remembered the guiding hand and the nervous waitress, and turned slowly.

James, dangling his keys casually on one finger, jingled them at him.

“I don’t trust you with cars, man. You’ve lost your privileges.”

“Oh, have I?”

“Yes,” James curled his hand around the keys, “If you want to get home and you want that baby to go with you, I’ll be driving.”

“This car,” Aleks said tightly, “Is worth more than your entire life.”

“I’ll go _very_ slow.” James walked around to the other side of the car and opened the door for him, “After you, M’lord.”

“I’m leaving _the worst_ Yelp review,” Aleks said severely, “You are never working in this fucking town again,”

“Lucky for me,” James patted the top of the door, “Let’s go.”

“This is grand theft auto,” Aleks stomped over to the passenger side, threw himself into the seat, “If we get pulled over, I’m telling the police you kidnapped me.”

“The police?” James laughed, and was still laughing, when he slammed the door shut.

“What’s so funny about the police?” Aleks demanded when the driver’s side door opened and James flopped into his seat - that was _Italian leather_ that he was treating like it was the fur rug they used in the public buses.

“You think they’d help you?” James glanced at him, pressed the button to start the car. The engine came to life with a soft purr and Aleks felt _betrayed_. “You? Los Santos’ own diamond boy?”

“Don’t,” Aleks roughly yanked his seat belt over his waist and locked it in place, “Fucking call me that. And it’s Achievement City, now. We’re rebranding. Get with the program.”

“You don’t get to rebrand a city.” James rolled his eyes, slammed on the gas and jerked the wheel. They didn’t ram into any other cars, but Aleks still plastered himself against the side of the car, braced his feet on the floorboard, one hand on the dash and the other on the console between them.

“What the _fuck_ -”

“Anyway,” James continued, like he hadn’t just skidded out of the parking lot and left behind ten years of Aleks’ life, “You can’t rebrand a city just because you’re rich.”

“No,” Aleks didn’t relax, because James’ driving didn’t get better. Aleks suddenly didn’t care about the car anymore, he just wanted to make it out of this drive _alive_. “But we can do it if we own most of the city, which we do.”

“The _Fakes_ own most of the city,”

“I dunno if you just haven’t _noticed_ ,” Aleks bit back a scream as James drifted into a thin space between two cars. Someone honked from behind, and James didn’t even hesitate to rev the engine back. “But I’m _part_ of the Fakes,”

“Not from my research,”

“You _researched_ me?”

“Of course I researched you, you’re a high-value mark my team and I were tasked with protecting. I needed to know what the fuck we were getting into before we accepted a job from the Golden Boy,”

“First of all, that’s really fucking weird,” Aleks gripped the console harder, both terrified for his life and that he would accidentally dig his nails into the leather and ruin it. Jack wouldn’t _mind_ but the point still stood, Jesus, what if he ruined it after Jack had given it to him just because he couldn’t stop James from taking it, “Second of all, Gavin said that he hired the _best team in the city_ and I seriously doubt that was you, so how the hell do I know you haven’t just kidnapped me and my _real_ security team isn’t trying to track me down right now,” he managed to take his hand off the dash for a solid moment before having to slam it back down when James jerked the wheel out of the spot he’d drifted into and returned to his previous lane to speed up and around the car next to them, “Lastly, what the fuck do you mean, what kind of research did you do that you didn’t know I was part of the Fakes?”

“You want answers in order?” James smirked, but it was different - dangerous, sharp, made Aleks nervous, his stomach flip in a not-entirely-unpleasant way.

“Fu - _ck you_ , James!” Aleks shouted, bringing one leg up so he could twist his body and better brace himself between the door and the console. If they crashed, he was going to fucking go through the windshield, but he’d at least fucking live, which hadn’t otherwise looked likely.

“ _First_ ,” James, relaxed in his seat aside from his tight grip on the wheel, started, “Every security team ever researches their jobs. It’s how you anticipate threats. Second,” Finally, _finally_ , the car started to slow. Aleks felt a little less like he was going to throw up. “You don’t.”

Aleks’ blood chilled a little at his tone and he looked out of the window for the first time since he’d got in the car to see where they were. He’d assumed James was driving him home. He’d assumed a _lot_. Oh fuck, oh fuck, what if James _wasn’t_ -

“I’m kidding, dude,” James laughed - he actually _chuckled_ , like that was _funny_ , - and they were fucking, they were pulling into Aleks’ building’s underground parking lot.

“He didn’t hire the best team, man, he hired the best _agency_. If something happens to my team, the agency will send more people to keep you safe. Not that something will happen to us. They sent the best _they_ had.”

“You’re a fucking riot.” Aleks straightened out, anger starting slow in his gut and then boiling up the longer he had to fucking - relax and realize he wasn’t dead, “You - you _kidnapped me_ and _stole my car_ ,”

“ _Third_ ,” James continued, turned the car off and lost the smile. He suddenly looked serious, not angry, but - not as jovial as he’d been pretending to be so far, “You’re not a part of the Fakes. You’re one of their pet projects, as far as I can tell. You caught the Golden Boy’s eye and it went to your head; you’re spoiled, you’re kind of a brat, you’re making my life and my job and the lives and jobs of my team _very_ difficult, and I’ve spent twenty minutes in your company and hated every second of it.”

The rage, previously hot and smoldering, went cold. Icy in his veins.

“If that was supposed to hurt my feelings or something,” Aleks cleared his throat stiffly. “I’ve heard worse, and from people I give a lot more of a shit about then some no name wanna be bodyguard who couldn’t even keep up with their mark on the first day.” James’ lips twitched but Aleks was done. He got out of the car. He didn’t have to retaliate. He’d done enough of that as a teen. There was no - convincing people. He was secure in his place in Gavin’s life, and his place with the Fakes, now. He didn’t need anyone’s approval. Least of all some fucker he was deadset on getting fucking fired as soon as Gavin was back.

He didn’t need to prove himself. He was the goddamn diamond of Los Santos.

He repeated that to himself the whole way up to his apartment.

-

Around the same time as the night before, there was a knock on his door.

He ignored it. James could fucking use the fob he was so proud of if he wanted to come in. Instead, he focused on the television and the pre-game beer in his hand, Mishka on the couch with him and the first episode of Game of Thrones playing out in front of him. The second knock was a little more insistent - but sounded different. Softer, faster, a lot less firm than James had knocked the night before. Mishka’s head lifted, a gruff bark escaping her, and Aleks had just a second to grab his beer off the table before a third knock sounded against his door and she went off.

She was loud and friendly and was just telling him someone was _there_ and he knew that, but it still made him groan and sit up, pause the episode and quiet her down before he could hurry to the door.

He threw it open with a snapped out, “What the fuck do you _want_ from me -” with the expectation of a gun in his face again.

Instead, it was a cute brunet with an awkward smile and wide eyes.

“Oh.” Aleks stared for a second, leaned against the jam of his door, “I don't know you.”

“I’m Joe,” Joe said, voice a little jumpy, “Uh, James sent me to look over the place.”

“Now he’s sending people to do his job for him?” Aleks scoffed, but stepped aside to let Joe in, “What a fucking asshole.”

“He, uh,” Joe stepped inside quickly, “Mentioned he may have gone off on you. Sorry about him.”

“Look,” Aleks tried to not sound annoyed, “Can you just...do whatever. I have a party to go to.”

“Oh. Um. I guess James...didn't tell you?” Joe’s eyes went wider. Aleks got a bad feeling in his stomach.

“What, exactly, didn’t he tell me?”

“I, uh, we,” Joe turned toward the door, “Maybe I should get James up here,”

“Joe,” Aleks said gently, even though he could feel his ire rising, “What didn’t he tell me?”

“You,” Joe hesitated, glancing at his face, back at the door, then back at Aleks’ face, his own features softening a little, “You’re good at that.”

Aleks smiled, “Is that what he didn’t tell me?”  
“No,” Joe paused again, “Look, Mister Free, we got some information. Law, the guy who’s after you, I dunno if you knew his name,” Aleks nodded, because of course he did, what kind of idiot would keep who was after Aleks from him, and Joe continued, “He’s active and he’s watching the party for you so he can snatch you up. James, uh, made the call.”

“What call?” Aleks prompted, because Joe was skittish and Aleks didn’t want the rage boiling in him to scare Joe away before he got his answers.

“You, uh,” Joe rubbed the back of his head, “Well, James says no party.”

“Hm.” Aleks thought about that for a moment, processed it, let it settle in his mind. That James thought he could dictate when and where Aleks went. It’d happened before, with other security teams. Aleks knew that this agency wasn’t the best in the city, despite what Gavin said, because he’d _had_ the actual best in the city and they wouldn’t work with the Fakes anymore because of him. He’d admire the gall of this new guy, sure to be next on Gavin’s list of _Agencies We Can’t Call To Watch Aleks_ , if it weren’t so fucking insulting.

“You...took that better than expected.” Joe cleared his throat, “Can I...clear the apartment now?”

“Of course,” Aleks offered the place with his arm, “It isn’t your fault, Joe. You didn’t _make the call_.”

“I...I guess not,” Joe smiled a little, a nervous uptick of his lips, and Aleks smiled back. Gavin had taught him how to control his anger a long time ago, and Gavin’s lessons always aided him when he needed them.

“I bet I look like a joke, huh?” Aleks followed him when he headed for the kitchen, motioning at himself, “All dolled up and nowhere to go.”

“You,” Joe glanced over quickly, cheeks going a little pink, “You look nice, Mister Free. If it helps. I’m sure you woulda been, like, the Belle of the Ball or whatever.”

“Probably,” Aleks shrugged, because he would be. He and Brett had chosen this suit two weeks ago - dark silver, almost gray if not for that certain sheen to it, with a white silk shirt. He’d forgone a tie and left the top three buttons open to show off his chest tattoo, repainted his nails their proper silver and linked his cuffs with diamonds to match it and his earrings all together. He’d tried a new eyeliner, too - a base to smooth his skin, something sharp and blue to make his eyes darker around the edges and his lashes longer, a pink flush on his lips to fill them out. He was going to turn heads, as always. “And it’s Aleks. Just Aleks is fine.”

Joe cleared his throat, glanced around the kitchen before moving on to the living room and then hesitating at the hall into the bedrooms, “Is it okay if, uh,”

“Be my guest,” Aleks shrugged and, while Joe was in Mishka’s room, pulled his phone out and texted Trevor. He got a response a few seconds after he’d sent it - mainly because he’d used their emergency line - and Trevor was _not_ amused, but he’d agreed to be there.

His phone was back in his pocket when Joe emerged and he leaned against the wall and watched Joe finish checking all of the other rooms, coming out of his bedroom with an awkward smile still in place.

“Looks like you’re all set, uh, Aleks.”

“Oh, hey, before you go,” Aleks clicked his tongue and Mishka eagerly jumped off the couch and trotted over, tail wagging hard. Joe’s whole face brightened up. “This is Mishka. James said you’d be in charge of her.”

“He told me,” Joe dropped to his knees, held a hand out and very happily accepted it when she ignored the hand in favor of jumping up to nose and sniff at his face instead, “God, she’s beautiful.”

“Isn’t she?” Aleks crouched, scratched the base of her tail until her butt was on the floor and she was wiggling between them and, when Joe looked at him, frowned thoughtfully, “Do you think you could do me a favor, Joe?”

Joe’s face closed a little, but Aleks didn’t panic. This would work.

“What favor? I can’t sneak you out, Aleks.”

“I’m not gonna ask you to sneak me out, man,” Aleks scoffed, “Look, I get it. James was...he was right. I have been making your jobs kind of difficult. I’m really sorry.”  
“Oh,” Joe hesitated again, “It’s okay. It must not be easy, being alone like this. You’ve been with the Fakes for a long time, right?”

“Since I was thirteen,” Aleks nodded, smiling again. This one, at least, was real. They always made him smile. “And, yeah, you’re right. I’m kind of scared. I regret staying and I really only did it for this party. My best friend’s throwing it, see, and it’s kind of the biggest event of the year for him and I promised I’d go. I need to call him and let him know that I can’t make it but I kinda wanna do it in private.”

“Oh, fuck, let me get out of your hair, then,” Joe started to stand and Aleks shook his head, standing and putting a hand out to stop him.

“Wait, no, don’t -” He swallowed, let a little fear show on his face, “I’m not actually suicidal. I don’t want Law to get me. It’s…” he flushed, crossed his arms, “It’s kind of stupid, but would you mind staying in the apartment with me for the night? James is an asshole but you...you seem okay.”

“I -” Joe smiled again, slow and kind, “It’s not stupid, Aleks. Of course I’ll stay. You don’t have to worry.”

“Thank you.” Aleks sighed, big and relieved, and pulled his phone out. “I’m gonna step outside, around the corner, just to make the call. We should be safe up here, right? And with you right inside, it’ll just be a few minutes. Then, I dunno...You like Game of Thrones?”

“I’ve never seen it,” Joe admitted and Aleks actually did feel bad about that.

“I’m restarting the series, so maybe we can watch it or something. Pretend we’re just two dudes and it’s a normal night. Just, uh, can you watch her? She likes to go outside and jump in the pool so I’m gonna close the door, but she should be fine if you’re giving her some love.”

“Of course,” Joe scratched at her face in just the right way to make both her tail and her leg go crazy, “Yeah, make your call, I’ll be right here.”

“Thank you, Joe.” Aleks reached out, pressed a hand to his on Mishka’s head and Joe’s eyes went wide, his cheeks a little pink. He really was cute, if Aleks went for that kind of thing.

“No problem,” Joe shrugged and Aleks stood up and pulled his phone out. He glanced over his shoulder when he got to the door to his patio and Joe was focusing on Mishka. He closed the patio door gently behind him, waved with phone in hand when Joe looked at him, and then went around the small corner of the yoga area.

Aleks actually felt kind of bad as he opened the door to the storage closet, pressed the button to release the locks on the part of the wall that he slid out of the way to reveal the emergency tunnel. It led down to under the building, lower than the parking lot, where Trevor would be waiting for him in the next five minutes. It wasn’t on any building plans, Geoff had had it installed when Aleks had told him what building he wanted to live in, and Aleks very much doubted anyone had told James or the agency about it. He closed the door to the storage unit behind him, slipped into the tunnel and slid the wall back into place until he heard the click of the locks that kept the wall in place. The motion sensor lights had come on, dim and lighting up the stairs, when he’d opened the tunnel and he followed them down. It would have been faster to just take the elevator, but that would have attracted a lot more attention and Aleks had very little doubt that James or one of the others - maybe less gullible to a dog, an apology, and a cute face - would be waiting at the bottom.

It was a long, long walk down. He needed to talk to Geoff about installing a slide or something. He also needed to take a break maybe half way down and just put his hands on his knees and pant for a few seconds. Fuck, lucky for him his makeup was sweat-proof or he’d be a disgusting mess before he even got to the bottom.

It was maybe ten minutes before he reached his destination, and Trevor was waiting for him with his bike, a leather jacket, and a very annoyed scowl.

“Do you know how many times I almost died to get here in fifteen minutes?”

“So many?” Aleks offered, unlinking his cuffs and slipping the diamonds deep into his pocket with his wallet so he didn’t lose them on the ride, pulled his suit jacket off and replace it with the leather after folding it up and setting it on the first stair of the emergency staircase. He wouldn’t put a helmet on if it actually meant dying, that would _ruin_ his hair and he’d spent half an hour working on it until it had that perfect look of ‘just rolled out of bed, but in a sexy way’ that he would be damned to ruin for _safety’s_ sake, so he and Trevor compromised with the jacket.

“So many, you fuck,” Trevor grumbled, but he scooched backward so Aleks could get on and take the bars from him. Trevor couldn’t drive, but he could - just barely - work a motorcycle through the few streets that separated their living spaces.

“Let’s go, before that poor schmuck realizes what happened.”

“You know you’re going to a party while you’re being hunted, right? That didn’t escape your attention?”

“You sound like my bodyguard,” Aleks glanced over his shoulder, “Just hold on, man, We’re gonna try not to go _too_ fast, my hair -”

“I fucking hate you,” Trevor cut him off and Aleks laughed, revved the bike, and then took off.

Aleks liked driving - his car, Trevor’s bike, anything he could get his hands on. He liked going fast, liked testing the limits of his vehicles, seeing what he could do and just how far he could go before _something_ snapped him back. Sometimes it was the police, sometimes it was his own fear of going...too far. Of not being able to come back if he crossed even more passed the line. Trevor was hot against his back, holding on tight but not restricting his movements, helmet on and a cool, hard weight against his shoulder. They’d ridden together enough for Trevor to know what to do and he followed Aleks’ body language easily, leaned with him, provided a counterpoint of balance at sharp turns. It was a fast drive to Brett’s place - but it was an even faster ride there, since he could take alleys and shortcuts, and they heard the booming base of the music nearly a block away. He found some underground parking and paid for two days - he doubted he’d be feeling up to coming to get the bike tomorrow, or that he’d get away so easily once he stumbled home, and Trevor would probably forget where it was for a bit, so two days sounded reasonable - and then he pulled the jacket off and redid his cufflinks easily.

“How’d I look?” he asked, doing a quick turn for Trevor in the fluorescent light of the parking lot.

“Fine,” Trevor said, and then sighed loud when Aleks glared at him, “You look good, Aleks. Except, here,”

Trevor stepped forward and Aleks let him undo the cufflinks and roll his sleeves up to show off his tattoos. “Fuck the diamonds, dude. You don’t actually need to be wearing a million dollars’ worth of shit all the time.”

“Not a fan of the diamond?” Aleks grinned, shrugged when Trevor offered the cufflinks until Trevor sighed and pocketed them himself.

“Don’t play word games with me,” Trevor straightened his shirt up, “Yes, I think your fucking rocks are stupid; No, I don’t think you’re stupid. Can we go now?”

“I don’t appreciate the psychoanalyzation right before the biggest party of the year,” Aleks scoffed, but Trevor slung an arm over his shoulders as they left the parking lot and that was good enough of an apology. Trevor was far too used to Aleks’ constant need for attention and validation by now but he rarely suffered it for long and Aleks loved him for it. Even if it stung his pride, sometimes.

They walked the block together, and Aleks refused to be freaked out. Whatever James thought, this party was probably the safest place he could even be. Security would be tighter than even one of Geoff’s parties, because Brett had invited a lot of people who weren’t carrying guns, and Aleks wouldn’t be going anywhere in a place where everyone recognized him not only as _Aleks Free_ but as the host’s best friend unless he _wanted_ to.

The block _to_ the party was a slightly different story, but Trevor was tight against his side, and had carried a gun on him since he was thirteen, and Aleks had the knife Michael had given him yesterday. Nothing happened, of course, but Aleks could admit his fur laid flat when Brett’s house came into view. The party was already in full swing, because Aleks was fashionably late, and the music was booming. He couldn’t make out what song it was, but he knew it was something with a steady beat and a fast pace and he liked it.

Brett was waiting for them between the two guards at the door when they were done climbing the driveway, impatient but pleased to see them.

“You made it.”

“I told you we’d be here,” Aleks grinned, let Brett pull him into a brief hug.

“How’d you escape your guard?”

“Pretty smile and a staircase,” Aleks shrugged, leaning back to look Brett over. He wasn’t particularly dressed up, same skinny jeans and boots and tight tee as always, but he still made it look good.

“Looks like it maybe wasn’t pretty enough,” Brett raised an eyebrow, glanced over his shoulder, and Aleks turned a glance that way, too. It took him a second, but he found James under a streetlight after a second of looking. He was staring, furious, and Aleks blew him a kiss and then stepped into the house with Brett and Trevor and promptly forgot all about him. It was his call to make.

-

The thing about parties like these was that they were...a lot. He didn’t exactly have fun, but he didn’t have a bad time, either. It wasn’t about either of those things - it was about throwing an arm over the third richest man in Achievement City’s daughter at the drinks table and making her laugh because she was gonna remember his face when she woke up and tell her friends about the cute guy who saved her from drinking some truly shitty beer and about the guy he kissed on the dance floor because he was a good dancer and for no other reason, and the cocaine that three women all were trying to snort at once right next to each other just as someone popped a party streamer and coke filled the air, got in his mouth and on his clothes and in his hair. Thousands of dollars of coke, and it permeated his world like flour for a hot minute until he was pulled out of it by the fifth person who’d yanked him around that night. It was about being on his sixth drink and not knowing even what it was, but being fully aware of everything around him. Of the whispers, “Oh, it’s the fool’s gold,” and “That’s Ramsey’s diamond,” and “Oh, Aleks?” and “Jesus, I’d take that for a ride,” all coming together to form just a bunch of useless words.

It was about taking what he couldn’t, when he was a kid. About drinking champagne with gold in it and laughing when he stumbled and someone pulling him into a deep kiss and he just went with it until he didn’t want to anymore and they let go and he drifted back into the crowd.

He lost Brett between drink two and three, and he lost Trevor between drink three and three and a half, but he never lost the dance floor and the music. He took a pill someone handed him sometime between an Avicii song and some dubstep trash that made his bones shatter under his skin, and he sat on a couch and negotiated a million-dollar deal with the kid of one of Gavin’s enemies, snapped up their business before they even realized who he was, that they’d let him into their financial world. He slipped the information to Trevor, and then he forgot about it because that was ten minutes ago and it was time to dance again. He lost track of time at some point and just never got it back. It had been minutes and days all at once, too much alcohol, too many pills, a lot of partying, and a sick feeling of _Gavin would be disappointed_ in his gut. It was the part of the night when things went wrong in his head and he just had get past it before he could start all over again.

He stumbled into Brett’s upstairs bathroom, the private one that no one else had the keycode to but that he had memorized when he started to sober up, intent on washing his face and cleaning the cocaine and spilled alcohol off his skin, and he was just through the door when he felt a broad hand between his shoulder blades. He was pushed forward, stumbled hard but caught himself and had his knife in hand, clumsily spinning on his heels with the blade drawn to face his attacker, before the door had even shut behind them.

“You, again,” He groaned, voice too loud and echo-y in the tiled backroom.

James sneered at him, shutting the door and locking it behind him without looking.

“Yes, me again. Your fucking _security guard_.”

“Some guard you are,” Aleks rolled his eyes, dropping the knife and shoving it back into his pocket. His wallet and phone were gone, but he distinctly remembered Trevor taking them with a promise to hold onto them, so he wasn’t worried. Trevor always took a few bottles of beer and disappeared up to the roof to drink with a few of the other less...intense partiers. They’d find each other at some point, probably when they passed out in Brett’s room.

“Don’t fucking start,” James growled, “We had to put your whole damn building on lockdown before we found that goddamn staircase,”

“Sucks,” Aleks leaned his back against the wall a little, tried to focus his eyes because James was hazy and Aleks didn’t like that. James was cute, he had big eyes that looked pretty when he was angry, and his voice was kind of annoying but he had a cadence when he talked that was soothing even while he yelled.

“Oh, you fuckin’ brat,” James hissed under his breath, started moving toward him, “You’re comin’ home. Enough is enough.”

“What are you gonna do?” Aleks smiled, didn’t try to get away as James started to cage him in, “Drag me out of the party my best friend is hosting? In front of every security guard that specifically knows my name? You really think you’ll get me out of here unless I _want_ to go?”

“You have someone after your _life_ ,” James shoved him suddenly, hard enough that he fully fell against the wall, but he didn’t feel threatened - he was either too drunk to be scared or too amused by James’ fury. Wasn’t quite sure which just yet. James hands came to either side of his head with a loud _slap_ against the tile, meant to scare him, make him dizzy with the loud sound, but he’d played this game a long time and all it did was make him notice how big James’ hands were. “What the fuck are you _doing_?”

“Going to a party,” Aleks shrugged, finally succeeded in focusing enough to take James’ face in now that he was so close. “People are always after _something_. I can’t just stop living my life because it’s in danger. And who the fuck are you to _make a call_ ,”

“In charge of your safety, for one,”

“You don’t give a shit about my safety,” Aleks laughed, “You’re here for the pay day, remember?”

“Yeah, so what?” James smiled back, in no way kind, “And you’re not worth a damn cent if you’re _injured_ ,”

“Sucks,” Aleks repeated, a bit more viciously, “Now get the fuck out of my way. I’ve got a party to get back to.”

“You fucking reek of alcohol,” James tensed his arms up when Aleks tried to get out from between them and Aleks, admitting defeat but only because he’d noticed something a little more interesting, stopped trying to get away.

“Yeah? Could it be because I’m fucking plastered?”

“Plastered and a fucking spoiled, rotten -”

“Why do you keep looking at my lips?” Aleks cut him off, already bored of the insults.

“I’m - not,” James glared, “What the fuck?”  
“Yes, you are,” Aleks licked his bottom lip, a quick movement, and James’ eyes stuttered down for just a moment. Interesting.

“Your lipstick is smeared,” James tried, but Aleks had caught him.

“It’s non-smear, James,” Aleks said slowly, a smirk playing at his lips, “You want to kiss me.”

“Look,” James leaned close, close enough that Aleks felt his breath catch a little. He was...he was a little more than cute, now that Aleks was looking. “Maybe your pretty boy act worked on Joe, and that was my mistake. I shouldn’t have trusted a snake with my nicest guy. But it won’t work on me.”

“That,” Aleks lifted his hands, pressed one hand to James’ shoulder and the other against the warm skin of his neck, “Wasn’t a no.”

“Jesus,” James wrinkled his nose up again and he had freckles, now that he was so close, freckles and his beard was trimmed but it wasn’t black, it was dark brown. “Is this sexual harassment? I’m your employee, Mister Free, isn’t this abuse of your authority?”

“I’m plastered and higher than a kite,” Aleks glanced between them, at the way they’d gravitated so close that James was practically pressing him to the wall, “Is it dubious consent if we’re both in shitty positions?”

“You’re a piece of fucking work,”

“Hm,” Aleks lowered his eyelids, tilted his head back a little so he can rest it against the cool tiles, couldn’t help but notice that James hadn’t shoved his hands away even though he was pulling him closer little by little. He slid one hand off his shoulder, down his chest, slow and light. “But you want to kiss me.”

“Isn’t getting people to want to kiss you your whole shtick?”

“That still,” Aleks finally angled James head down a little, the lightest of touches against his jaw, their lips so close that they were almost - _almost_ \- brushing, “Isn’t a no.”

“I think I’m getting a contact high.” James swallowed, and his voice was deeper than usual, like he’d just downed a shot of gravel.

“Good excuse,” Aleks laughed, just a soft huff of air between them, “You want me to go home, James? Take me home, then.”

“I’m not sleeping with you,” James tilted his head a little on his own to get closer, one of the arms that had been trapping Aleks against the wall dropping to his hip, “And I’m not leaving you with my team, anymore. You’ve lost that privilege, too. You can’t be trusted.”

Aleks properly smirked, fluttered his eyes a little, “Poor Joe. Sweet guy. A cute dog and a sad face, I knew it’d work.”

“Like I said,” James squeezed his hip, pressed a little closer, “Fuckin’ spoiled rotten snake,”

“But,” Aleks started and James huffed out an annoyed breath.

“Yeah, yeah,” He admitted, “I still want to kiss you. I know.”

“You gonna do it?” Aleks asked, almost like a dare, “You know how long it took me to get away? Ten minutes. Because I went ahead and let him check the place first. That get you hot?”

“You’re the actual worst,” James scoffed, and his facial hair prickled at Aleks’ skin. Aleks dropped his hand to James’ hip, too, uses it to pull him until they really were flush. James was warm against him, felt kind of like he was taking up all the air in the bathroom. Somehow, Aleks was getting a better high off this than he had off the pill. “You’re either _trying_ to get yourself killed or piss me off. Same thing.”

“Where’s the fun in safety, huh?” Aleks licked his bottom lip and, for just a split second, his tongue brushed against James’ lip, too. “What’s it gonna be, James? Gonna take the risk? You think you can last longer than ten minutes?”

His answer was James finally shoving forward, crowding into his space and kissing him so hard that it actually stole Aleks’ breath.

Somewhere between James shoving his hands under Aleks’ shirt and Aleks grinding their hips together, he slipped the fob he’d taken from James’ pocket into his own. James hadn’t even lasted five.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys!!! sorry about the delay, kenopsia took up a Lot of time and then im still working on prompts and school but i tried to get this out as fast as i could! i still dont have a regular schedule for this but im hoping every two weeks? we'll see, ig!! 
> 
> this chapter gets explicit!!
> 
> LOOK!! AT THIS AMAZING PIECE OF ART THAT [ drakkkun ](http://darkkkun.tumblr.com/) made of last chapter!!!!!! [HERE](http://darkkkun.tumblr.com/post/166660415718/youre-a-piece-of-fucking-work-hm-but-you) it is!
> 
> as always, thank you to [kenn](http://allrighthello.tumblr.com/), [tay](http://nealinator.tumblr.com/), and [phoenix](http://boys-jpeg.tumblr.com/) for cheering me on and reading the fic as i cried about it
> 
>  
> 
> you can find me at on [Tumblr](http://the-cockbite-syndicate.tumblr.com/) if you'd like! I post fake/gta!au stuff :)

Aleks woke up on his bathroom floor, feeling like shit and smelling worse.

He had a pillow, at least; one of the throws off his couch, and a scarf that he, for some reason, must have thought was a blanket last night. The throw was smooth and sticky against his cheek, the leather having fused to his face from sweat and drool, and he’d draped the scarf over his shoulders and curled his body up around it.

He set up slow, pressed a hand to his aching head to regret his life choices for a solid two minutes, and then army crawled to the shower to set a temperature for the water and activate the facet. There was a brief pause after he’d touched the screen while the water heated but when it began to pour from the ceiling of the shower area, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

He wiggled out of last night’s clothes - slacks ruined with alcohol stains, cocaine, and sweat and his shirt buttons popped down to his navel - and then carefully unhooked the locket and set it on the small shelf outside of his shower before continuing his army crawl until he was under the spray.

The feeling was, honestly, better than most of the sex he’d ever had. He turned around, laid on his back and let the spray hit his face, fill his mouth, wet his hair and get at least the surface level of grime off of him. He finally found the strength to sit up properly, run his hands through his hair to get it well soaked and then reached out, nearly tipping over, to grab his shampoo.

He was knuckles deep in his hair, scrubbing drugs and alcohol and glitter off his scalp, sudsy and wet and trying to remember what the fuck he’d done last night, when he remembered exactly what he’d done last night.

“Oh _fuck_ ,” he said out loud, and then had to spend ten minutes with soap in his mouth and burning eyes from opening while shampoo was running down his face.

-

The fob was still in the pocket of his pants, but his phone and keys were missing. He wasn't worried about them - he distinctly remembered Trevor taking them, but it was an annoyance. He closed his eyes, standing naked in the middle of his bathroom, hair still plastered down and body dripping, and tried to remember what exactly had happened.

And remember, he did. He remembered big, warm hands against his skin, hot lips kissing his. Remembered those hands in his pants, working him over, and remembered practically breaking the zipper getting into James’ pants in return. He remembered moaning into James’ mouth, remembered swallowing James’ quiet groans, remembered warmth and wet on his palm, remembered shivering between James and the wall of Brett’s bathroom, of James goading him on until he came with a hiss that James used to bite into his mouth. He remembered holding onto each other to get through the crowd at the party, being pulled into a car and then pulled into a lap, remembered those hands on his hips and those lips on his neck, rough beard scraping against his shoulders and his name whispered heavy and low when he pulled James’ hair tie out and tangled his fingers in thick curls. He didn’t remember getting home, though, or how he ended up on the floor of his bathroom, wrapped around the toilet with a scarf and a throw pillow.

It’s not shame that filled him - he’d long moved on from feeling anything even close to shame - but it was as close to embarrassment as he got. It had started out as just a play to get the fob from James’ pocket and then it had...shifted. And now he was gonna have to deal with some smug fuck over his shoulder for _weeks_ until Gavin got back.

He groaned, and then regretted it immediately as the sound echoed in the bathroom and then slammed into his head too hard. He dropped into a crouch, clutching his temples until they stopped trying to pulse until he _died_ , and then blindly reached out for his locket and carefully stood back up.

He was still locking it back in place when there was a knock on the door that sent him back into a crouch like, if he got low enough, the sound waves would bypass him and let him live his life painlessly.

“Who the _fuck_ -” He said out loud, voice breaking in annoyance and pain, and grabbed a towel to wrap around his waist before he threw the door open.

He hadn’t noticed how warm the bathroom was until he let the steam out. Every part of him went rigid with goosebumps and a hard shiver worked up his spine before he could stop it. James watched it all with a raised eyebrow and a grin. It, at least, wasn’t that fucking customer service smile he’d been touting around since they’d bumped into each other the first time, but it was still disgustingly smug. Looks like all it took to get him to stop looking at Aleks like he was a disgruntled customer was a messy orgasm in a stranger’s bathroom.  The only reason Aleks didn’t slam the door in his face was because he was carrying a glass of orange juice and a plate of toast with two small, blue pills on it.

“Morning, Aleks,” He said, far too cheery, and Aleks glared at him, knew his eyes were slits because the bathroom was dimly lit but James had left the lights on full blast in the bedroom and they were _blinding_. James looked fucking _fine_ , even a fresh pair of slacks and a new shirt - black, instead of the white, and no jacket. He had a different tie, too - a truly disgusting pink thing with gray stripes.

“That bad, huh?” He continued when Aleks didn’t say anything, and his voice was like a bar just _banging_ over Aleks’ head with every word. His smile only grew with every wince and Aleks couldn’t believe he’d thought he was _cute_ at _any_ point, even as fucked up as he’d been. “I was just gonna let you puke it out, but Anna reminded me that it was our job to keep you alive so here.”

He offered the plate and, carefully, Aleks took the pills and swallowed them dry. James sighed, but handed over the orange juice and Aleks gulped it down like he was dying. It stung a little, brought tears to his eyes, but it was fresh and delicious and reminded Aleks suddenly that he was fucking ravenous.

Still, he wasn’t a _total_ asshole, so he finished off the glass and then wiped his lips with the back of his hand and closed his eyes against the light to wait for the pills to kick in before he finally said something.

“Thanks.”

“My pleasure,” James said, and Aleks didn’t need to open his eyes to see his smug fucking face. _Smeggy_. Aleks didn’t use Gavinisms often, but this was one of those fucking moments where it was the only word to describe James.

“I’m gonna eat that,” Aleks warned, just to change the subject, and then grabbed the toast and shut the door in James’ face. He still had the fob and he didn’t want James to, like, suddenly _realize_ or something.

“You’re _welcome_!” James shouted through the door, banged against it a few hard times, and Aleks was still crouching and groaning in pain when he heard James walk away, fucking laughing. He _hated_ him.

He ate his toast fast, brushed his teeth slow, adjusted the lights incrementally until he was able to handle the lights on high so James and the sun couldn't work in tandem to make him even more miserable than he already was.

It was only when the urge to hurl every time he moved too fast had died down that he felt safe leaving the bathroom. He opened the door expecting to be the bright lights from before, but they were dimmed. James must have...turned them down when he left.  
Aleks frowned, but didn’t question it. He just went to his drawers, pulled out a pair of boxer briefs and some flannels and dropped his towel so he could pull them both on. He dropped the fob in his box, just to keep it somewhere safe.

He forwent a shirt or hoodie, the cool air nice against his flushed skin now that he was used to it, and used the towel to roughly dry his hair before tossing it into the laundry basket to send out for cleaning later.

Mishka was sitting outside of his door when he opened the door and she hopped up excitedly, tongue out and ready to be loved.

“Hey, girl,” he said quietly, scratched her head until her tail thumped the ground before he picked her up under her front legs and squeezed her to his chest. She was pretty used to this, especially after so long, and he felt her tail slapping against his thigh as he walked out of the hall, hindered but feeling more alive with his dog in his arms and some toast in his stomach.

Joe was nowhere in sight, but James was standing in front of the door to the outside area, arms crossed behind him, stance firm. The sun was high, probably around noon, and the bright lights out here did make him flinch.

“Why are you even in my apartment?” He mumbled, holding Mishka like a buffer. James couldn’t mock him with a dog as cute as her between them; he was an asshole, but he wasn’t a _monster_ , as far as Aleks knew.

“Like I said last night,” James said, and smirked because Aleks had been _wrong_ and he _was_ a monster, “You can’t be trusted, so I’m on you twenty-four-seven now.”

“One night together and you’re already in love with me, huh?”

Aleks set Mishka down and wandered into the kitchen, but he still saw James roll his eyes.

“Please. If we’d had a night together, _you’re_ the one who would be in love.”

“Diamonds don’t love,” Aleks retorted, but filed the _if_ away. He had no memories of sleeping with James beyond the mutual hand job that he _really shouldn’t have done_ , and he’d woken up wearing his clothes and on a floor, but he hadn’t been _sure_ until now. “They _are_ loved.”

“You aren’t a diamond, genius,” James watched him, eyes narrowed even across the room, like Aleks was gonna open a cabinet to reveal a secret escape, “You said so yourself.”

“No,” Aleks popped a few more pieces of bread into the toaster, pushed down on the tab until they disappeared into the machine. He hopped onto the counter to wait, pulled his legs up so he could cross them and lean on his knees and rest his head on one hand, tilting a little so he could see James in the sunlight. It kind of gave him a halo, this bright afternoon glimmer around his edges, shadowing a lot of his details, but leaving the vague lines Aleks needed to fill in the space from memory. “I said not to call me the diamond boy. It’s fuckin’ insulting. I’m twenty-four, that’s what people called me when I was, like, fifteen. It’s been a decade, dude, come up with something a little more original than _diamond boy_. Like I’m just some offshoot of Gavin’s shtick.”

“You’ve got a few names,” James pointed out, “Is one a little more acceptable, my lord?”

It’s teasing enough that Aleks doesn’t take offense. It's a perk he gave people that he's fucked around with, the option to gently tease without being brutally put down, and he didn’t remember why he gave _James_ that honor, but here they were. Instead of snapping back, he reclined on his counter, stretching out in the ample space and popping his head back on his hand so he could continue to look at James, “Aleks.”

“Not very _strike fear in the heart of your enemies_ there, dude,”

“I don’t need a name to do that.” Aleks grinned, smug, and James wrinkled his nose up at him in response.

“You really don’t like the names? They kinda sound cool, if you don’t, like, actually _know_ you.”

“Fuck you,” Aleks flipped him off, turned onto his stomach on the counter so he could flop an arm over the edge to scratch Mishka’s face again when she peered over at him. “They’re okay, I guess. Most of them are just stupid, snide bullshit against Geoff or Gavin.”

James didn’t verbally respond, but Aleks watched him give Aleks a considering look. He hadn’t relaxed out of that shoulder-width-apart, arms-behind-his-back stance, but he at least had stopped looking like a smug piece of shit.

Aleks’ toast dinged, popped out of the toaster. He looked away from James, set up to pull the toast out by the corner and then press the singed skin of his thumb and pointer between his lips to lift the sting of the burn. He was spreading butter from the dish next to the toaster onto his first piece when James broke the silence.

“What’s the fool’s gold thing about? What’s that got to do with diamonds?”

Aleks didn’t freeze up, carefully kept the glide of the knife smooth. He didn’t look over, didn’t let his hackles rise. It was just a question - it didn’t even sound like James was asking to be a dick. He didn’t run in Aleks’ circles, why would he know about that fucking nickname until he’d heard it last night. If Aleks thought about it, he remembered hearing it plenty himself, too.

“You aren’t the only one who thinks I’m just Gavin’s fuckin’ passion project, let’s leave it at that.”

“Seems plenty of people don't wanna leave it at that.”

“Yeah, well,” Aleks gave himself a second, just a second, to grip the knife tight, to feel _angry_ , and then he relaxed his grip. “Diamonds don't care about what people think.”

James opened his mouth to say something else and Aleks took a loud, decisive bite out of his toast to show that the conversation was over. James closed his mouth, looking a little amused, and Aleks didn’t want to think about why that made his cheeks feel a little warm. He glared over the flat plane of toast, turned around so he wasn’t looking at James anymore, and he ate breakfast in silence; just the sound of Mishka’s happy panting over the side of the counter and the toast crunching. He drank nearly half a gallon of orange juice when he was done with the toast, and James didn’t say anything about his manners and Aleks refused to look at him the whole time.

He went back to his bedroom after that, mostly because he was sore and full and the pills were kicking in for his headache and making him tired.

Mishka followed him, jumped into the bed with him when he slid between clean sheets. The lights were still dim in his room - he hadn’t mentioned it. Maybe he should have thanked James for turning them down. It had been...thoughtful.

-

He woke up feeling...refreshed. He reached out for his phone before he realized that he still hadn’t got it back. Trevor would be by at some point, probably tonight if he hadn’t already come, to give him his shit back. It was his own fault for leaving in the first place - he was gonna give Brett’s security an earful for letting some stranger get him into an Uber, that was for damn sure.

Mishka was sleeping at the foot of the bed, and she lifted her head when he slowly set up but didn’t get up with him.

He stretched, shrugged on a tank and then wandered out of his room and back into the open space to check the time. The sun was low, not quite dusk, but low enough that the shadows were long, the pool brightly lit, bathing the whole space in orange and gray.

James was still standing in the same spot as he had been when Aleks had last been out here. He was at least leaning against the glass now, arms folded across his chest, head tilted down. He wasn’t asleep, obviously, but he looked...a little more human, like this. Less like a smug piece of shit intent on ruining Aleks’ day, and more like a dude who was kind of just trying to do his job.

Part of him wants to say something, shock him into standing up straight. But he was feeling...soft, just woken up, still sleepy. He was hungry, but not hungry enough to make anything.

Instead, he set on the couch. He tried to be quiet, and he was, but James still looked up, and the shadows on his face hid the look but Aleks could see the way his brow creased and knew that he was grimacing.

“Have you been just standing there all day?” Aleks asked, and he didn’t mean to come off so soft, but he did. It felt...wrong to break the quiet, though, so he’d kept his voice low.

“I check on you every hour and do a run of the house every half.” James shrugged, but he hadn’t raised his voice much, either. No one else was in the apartment except for Mishka, but it was still...nice, to have the quiet.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Aleks pulled his legs up, “I just snuck out because _you_ were an asshole and tried to keep me from the party I fucking stayed behind to go to in the first place.”

“That was stupid and dangerous,” James frowned, “You had the people after you surrounding that place. You’re lucky we didn’t get stopped.”

“Yeah, yeah,” He waved his hand, already bored with the lecture, “Don’t get your panties in a twist, dude. I made my appearances and I promised Gav I’d stick around here until he got home so you don’t have to flip on me. Did Trevor stop by?”

James pulled a face, looking annoyed, and Aleks couldn’t help the smile. He hid it in his palm, resting his face against his hand and watching the sunset behind James.

“No.” James grumbled, “No one’s tried to come up today. Are you expecting him?”  
“He’s got my phone and stuff,” Aleks shrugged, “I usually stay the night at Brett’s after a party like that, but _someone_ seduced me while I was intoxicated and vulnerable and dragged me out of the house without getting my shit from him.”

“Don’t even start with me,” James scoffed, “Maybe you were intoxicated, but you weren’t fucking _vulnerable_. If anything, _I_ should be feeling taken advantage of.”

“You?” Aleks yawned, squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds with it, “I’m the one who got pinned to the wall.”

“I’m the one with _hickeys_!”

“I did _not_ ,” Aleks pressed a hand to his chest, offended, “I don’t leave _hickeys_ -”

“Really,” James interrupted, and his voice was angry but Aleks could tell it was more fake outrage than anything, just James hamming it up a little, and he didn’t know why but it made him want to smile. “So, these marks where you _bit me_ are just coincidence?”

“Show me,” Aleks demanded and James made a loud, annoyed noise but finally left his self-appointed post to walk over to him. He loosened his tie - that ugly pink monstrosity that _had_ to have been a lost bet - as he walked, until he could unbutton the top of his shirt and pull the collar down for Aleks to see. He stopped a few feet away, tilted his head up a little, and Aleks set up from the loose ball he’d pulled his body into and crawled across the couch to get a closer look. The marks weren’t, like, _animal attack_ marks - but they were there, still. Slight bruises against tanned skin, following the collar of James’ shirt. Looking at them, he did actually kind of remember biting him a few times in the car.

“Oh. I guess I did.”

“I fuckin’ _told you_ ,” James straightened his shirt up, redid the buttons and tightened his tie a little but didn’t pull the knot all the way back up. Aleks hated how good the suit looked on him. “ _I_ , out of the _kindness of my soul_ , got you home and made sure you didn’t fucking die on your bathroom floor and you repaid me with _hickeys_ ,”

Aleks felt a grin tug at his lips and did his best to clamp it down. “Dude, if I’m remembering right, you seemed to enjoy it plenty.”

“Oh, yeah, who wouldn’t enjoy a hundred and twenty pounds of drunk asshole on their lap for twenty minutes in a hostile environment.”

“Big talk for the one who kissed _me_ ,”

James stuttered for a second, eyes widening a little, “I did that to get you out -”

“That’s not what I remember,” Aleks let the grin spread, “Oh, did you think you’d get away with the whole conversation? Drunk off his ass Aleks won’t remember a thing? Jokes on you, idiot.”

“I was doing my _job_!”

“Bullshit!” Aleks laughed, leaning back against the armrest, amused as hell at the pink he could see just under James’ cheeks, “It was totally not your job to get off with me in a bathroom!”

James stared at him, mouth open and cheeks flushing, and Aleks felt victorious.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Mister High and Mighty Bodyguard, got distracted by a cute face.”

“Cute?” James finally closed his mouth, rolled his eyes so hard Aleks was scared for his vision, “You’re not cute. You’re a hot mess.”

“A hot mess that you’re _attracted to_ ,”

“That’s your whole _thing_! You’re _attractive_!”

“Still,” Aleks laughed, smiling way too wide, and James was smiling, just a little, too, and it made his stomach feel weird, a little queasy for some reason, “I can’t believe you let me get you off in a bathroom. We’ve known each other for like two days. You’re getting _paid to babysit me_.”

“Stop,” James held out a hand, “Stop, oh my God, stop. You’re going to get me killed. Mister Free is going to fucking skin me if he finds out.”

The tone of the conversation was - different. Yesterday, James had been a total fucking asshole but maybe the quiet of the house, the warm colors of the sunset, and Aleks behaving himself had put him in a good enough mood that he didn’t mind showing Real People emotions. He’d had ample opportunity to start a fight, or blow this off, or turn it around on Aleks - and, instead, he was joking. Smiling. Aleks wasn’t fooled, he didn’t trust it, but it was...nice. Maybe this wouldn’t be so shitty, if James could just...keep this attitude.

“I won’t tell if you won’t.”

“Yeah, sure,” James dropped his hand, went back to the glass wall, but he looked more amused than anything, and Aleks was kind of sad for the conversation to end. When he wasn’t insulting him or fish for information on fucked up nicknames his peers used to mock him, he was...kind of fun to joke around with.

Aleks didn’t try to force the conversation, though. James went back to his post, Aleks curled back up in his favorite spot, and grabbed the remote from the coffee table. The episode of Game of Thrones he’d left playing for Joe was on his Most Recent feed and he hit it without much thought. Just for something to have on in the background while he relaxed and dozed in the dying sun. He might go for a swim, maybe, once night had properly fallen.

He’d watched the first episode often enough that he could practically mouth along to it, if only because he was used to it going on in the background while he worked or chilled or, on occasion, cooked dinner. It was his go-to, though not his favorite, and that was why he didn’t pay much attention to it. Instead, he paid attention to James, who was pretending that he wasn’t watching the screen. It wasn’t rapt, he’d probably seen it before, but it was interested.

Aleks tried to stop looking at him. It was weird, and James was going to mock him endlessly if he caught him staring, but he was...acting odd, enough that Aleks could tell even after only a few days of knowing him. Not odd in a bad way, but…

Shit, maybe getting off really had done it. Aleks had thought he had a pole up his ass from the beginning, and it finally looked like someone had helped him remove it - maybe it had been Aleks.

“Will you stop looking at me?” James snapped, fast enough that Aleks jerked back, realized too late that he’d been actively staring.

“Sorry,” He said automatically, and then shook his head, “You’re just making me nervous, man. Just relax.”

“Last time I relaxed, you uncovered a secret escape tunnel and disappeared into a house party. I'm billing you for all the bribe money I've had to give out, by the way.”

“Look, just,” Aleks pointed with his toe, “Sit, or something. I'm not going anywhere. Stop _looming_. You look like Slenderman.”

“I'm not _looming_ ,” James crossed his arms, but he did sit. It was the most tense relaxed sprawl Aleks had ever seen - like James had had relaxation in mind when he’d started to sit and then changed his mind and went for something more professional just before hitting the cushion but had run out of time. He wasn’t moving, though, and he’d turned to face the big screen, so Aleks left it and turned back to the screen himself.

They finished the first episode in silence, and there were no complaints when it autoplayed onto the next.

It felt weird to have someone on his couch with him that wasn't one of the Fakes or Brett or Trevor. He didn't really have people over often enough that he was used to sitting with them like this, in the dark with just the television to light them up and the pale reflection of the rainbow lights from the pool doing its best to provide a little more visibility. Gavin had taught him to never break the silence, because it gave away that he was the nervous one, so Aleks didn't say anything to draw attention to himself; still, he was left...a little off balance. It was like a weird morning after, except James wasn’t awkward about it and Aleks wasn’t awkward about it, but they were still in the same room so maybe Aleks _was_ a little awkward about it. He...was used to kind of getting while the getting was good, not...sitting alone together watching a tv show that someone was way too into for an episode that came out six years ago.

James was into it, too. He frowned in all the right moments, winced every time Sean Bean was in a scene. He reacted a lot, with his whole face, and Aleks kept glancing over just to see the way he was responding. By the time the countdown for the next episode popped up, Aleks would not have been surprised if he’d been able to get up and walk out without James noticing.

Mishka came out to join them halfway through episode three, just hopped up between them and laid her head on James’ lap while she whacked Aleks with her tail.

“I guess you’re okay,” Aleks scoffed, scratching her butt, and James glanced at him, scratched between her ears until her tails was going so fast that it actually hurt, “If she likes you. She’s a good judge of character.”

“Or maybe she just likes that I’m giving her attention.”

“That, too.” Aleks shrugged, glanced at him again and hoped the pale light of the tv hid the flush.

James caught his eye before he looked away and Aleks blinked and found that he couldn’t look away, yet. James broke the contact first, one of those small smiles that Aleks was fast wanting to see more of tugging his lips up, but it took Aleks a second before he finally looked back at the TV again.

He tried very hard not to remember how nice James’ hands were, big and warm and a little bit fumbling but very willing, and he tried not to remember the feeling of James in his hand, hot and pulsing, and the quiet, embarrassed moans James made when Aleks twisted his wrist in the right way. He tried not to remember any of that but it was hard, with James sitting so close, to keep the fuzzy memories out of his head.

Maybe James was having the same problem, because he shifted a little, cleared his throat.

“You’re making this weird, dude,” he finally announced, “Knock it off.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Aleks denied, “I’m just trying to watch this show, okay, you’re the one being weird.”

“I’m just sitting here! In this fuckin’ place that you told me to sit!”

“Well, I’m not doing anything and you’re not doing anything, so it’s not weird.”

“You keep - looking at me!”

“You were looking at me!”

“Because you were looking at _me_ -”

“This is ridiculous. You’re being ridiculous. I just want to finish this episode,” Aleks wrinkled his face up, and James laughed - big, genuine, not really what Aleks had expected but somehow what he wanted.

“Sure, okay, _I’m_ the one being ridiculous even though you’re the one who keeps looking at me. What was that you said? One night together and you’re already in love with me?”

Aleks sniffed, waving him away, “We didn’t have a night together, asshole.”

“But you are in love with me?”  
“Madly,” Aleks deadpanned, raising an eyebrow when James laughed again, more of a giggle than anything, and Aleks didn’t like the way it made his cheeks warm again. “The D was too good, James. No one will ever satisfy me again.”  
“Lucky for you, I’ll be here the next three weeks. Maybe if you’re good and sober, we can have a repeat.”

They both went still at that, and Aleks swallowed, “I’ve been good and sober all day, I dunno what more you want.”

“What, you want a prize for sleeping all day and not trying to escape your security detail?”

“Look, if that’s the behavior that you want from me, I’m gonna need some incentive here,”

James rolled his eyes, making an annoyed sound that was so obviously fake that Aleks had to smirk, “Incentive? Like I need to reward you for not actively putting your life in danger?”

“I live hard and fast,” Aleks joked and James smirked back.

“That’s not the only thing hard and fast about you, honestly,”

“You were _not_ better!” Aleks raised his voice, offended, and James leaned his head back and laughed at him again, and Aleks tried to fight off the smile but really couldn’t. Mishka wasn’t as excited by all the loud noises when she was trying to sleep so she hopped off the couch and disappeared back toward the hallway and Aleks watched her go for a few seconds before he turned back to James.

James, who had come just a little bit closer. Aleks was still in the ball he’d curled into when he’d first set down, but James had finally come out of his sprawl and moved close enough that Aleks could have just spread his legs and reached out to pull him close enough to - do whatever he wanted to.

Instead, he raised an eyebrow.

“I definitely lasted longer than you,” James shrugged and Aleks hummed in disbelief.

“Like, _barely_. Like, _a few minutes_.”

“That’s still longer, idiot,”

“I was _drunk_! I had no coordination!”

“Sure, if that’s the excuse you wanna go with.”

“Fuck you. I’ll fucking - show you. Take your pants off right now,” Aleks shifted, set up, and that brought them a lot closer, a few inches of space between their faces, and James’ eyes immediately dropped to his lips, then carefully looked back up, and Aleks was suddenly caught in them again. James had dangerous eyes; they were big and wide and pretty, doe-eyed like he was innocent even though Aleks knew for a fact that he wasn’t, and they were a bit of a trap. If he looked at them too much, he forgot his own name, and Aleks wasn’t used to that kind of feeling. Honestly, he was used to being the one that _caused_ that kind of feeling.

James didn’t move much, just leaned in a bit, and looked Aleks over carefully. It kind of felt like an examination.

“What?” Aleks blinked, suddenly aware of everything - the amount of times he blinked, the way his tongue set in his mouth, his breathing.

“This is the first time I’m seeing you without makeup,” James said casually, but it was soft, and he’d lost the smile and so, Aleks’ realized, had Aleks.

“I wasn’t expecting a Netflix and chill session,” Aleks flushed, backed up a little because fuck, okay, so maybe he was a little more insecure about the makeup thing than he had let on, but James just followed him, put a hand on the edge of the couch and turned a little so he was leaning, so that they were...close.

“And yet, for some reason, I still want to fucking kiss you.”

Aleks rolled his eyes, “Lipstick or no, I’m still a hot mess. Maybe you just have a thing for that.”

“This stays between us,” James dropped his voice, “I swear to God, if I get Gavin Free on my doorstep to skin me for taking advantage of you -”

“He would skin me first,” Aleks promised, and then closed the distance between them. James’ lips were warm, his beard scratchy. He tilted his head, traced the seam of Aleks’ lips with the tip of his tongue and Aleks parted his lips for James’ tongue, parted his legs so James could crawl between them, get closer, lean him back so they were horizontal on the couch and Aleks could clutch the knot of that ugly as hell tie to drag him down.

He fit neatly between Aleks’ legs, knees crowded up under his thighs, one hand on the couch for balance and the other dipping between them to start tugging at Aleks’ pants. Aleks had never hated sweatpants quite so much in his life, a button and zipper would have made things easier, but he planted his foot on the ground and used it to lift his hips so James could tug his waistband down around his thighs. The air was warm, but it still made him groan into the kiss when James managed to get his pants and boxers low enough to expose him. He dropped his hips back down, left James’ tie alone so he could stick his hands between them and unbuckle his fucking belt, fumble the button open and then pull the zipper down. He gripped the waistband and pushed, dragged them down so they were around James’ thighs, broke the kiss with a hard inhale when James wrapped a firm hand around his dick and squeezed.

“So far, this is pretty similar,” James said quietly, “Just, uh, a different surface.”

“Not fair,” Aleks closed his eyes against the feeling of strong fingers slowly stroking along his shaft, ran his hand down James’ thigh and then took him in hand, too. Their wrists brushed against each other; James shivered and made those quiet, cut off sounds that Aleks remembered from the night before every time Aleks pumped him. It was a lot more intense while he was sober; James a lot closer, a lot hotter, the scrunched look on his face etching itself into Aleks’ mind.

“No one said -” James started but had to pause, bow his head and roll his hips a little into Aleks’ grip, “Anything about fair.”

“Do you ever just,” Aleks sighed, spread his legs wider against the resistance of his sweatpants so he could pull James’ hips down until they were flush together, hands pressed between them, “Shut up and let someone else have the last word?”

“No,” James said honestly, and then rolled his hips again. It had Aleks arching, had him letting go of James’ dick so he could grip his hips and make him do it again. James laughed, but it was hitched and broke at the end when he leaned down to bite and lick at the juncture of Aleks’ shoulder and neck. The buttons of his shirt dug into Aleks’ stomach where they were pressed together, the fabric rough and cool against his hot skin, and he reached up to tangle his fingers in James’ tie again, use it to drag him back into a heated kiss that James returned with enthusiasm.

They made out for a long time, James grinding down and Aleks arching up to meet in an intense, mildly antagonistic middle. At some point, James grabbed Aleks’ thigh to hitch it up and hold it in place so he could turn a little, get some weight on the leg wedged between Aleks and the back of the couch. He used his new leverage to increase the pace, make Aleks scrabble uselessly at his hip and tie until he finally managed to lock his leg around the back of James’ thighs so he had his own leverage to meet James thrust for thrust again. It was too dry, until Aleks reached down to jack them both off a few times, spread the pre collecting at their tips until things were slick and damp, until his stomach was tightening and James’ nails were digging into his thigh through his sweats.

James kissed like he fucked; encompassing, dominating, overwhelming, dirty - but he was easy to get to do what Aleks wanted, if he played it right. The right noises had him shifting to do more of what Aleks liked, the right grasping pull of his hips made him go faster or slower, the right stutter of Aleks’ breath made him make more of those sweet, little sounds that Aleks liked. Aleks might keep him around after this, as badly as this was no doubt going to end, if only because he was so responsive, so easy to manipulate but not above surprising Aleks with an unpredicted action. Like, for example, the annoyed noise he made when he tried to get closer just as Aleks was starting to build up to what he was sure was going to be a very nice orgasm and Aleks’ sweatpants stopped him. Aleks expected him to just forget it, because Aleks was tugging at him, and he knew his moans were getting a little higher, a little faster, if he was interested in winning this little bet then it would be in his best interest to forget it and keep going - but he broke away from Aleks, set up so that the warm air of the room filled the space between them and made Aleks whine, made the feeling he was chasing slowly disappear and leave him _wanting_.

“You _fucker_ -”

“Get these off, Jesus,” He demanded, and then started tugging at Aleks’ pants. Aleks would have laughed, but he’d been _close_ , god damn it, and if getting his pants out of the way would get James back where he wanted them, so be it. They struggled for a second, and Aleks was pretty sure he heard a seam break, and he would _not_ be happy about that later, but that was to be angry about _later_ \- James threw the sweatpants and boxers over the couch and then Aleks curled his tie in his fist and forced him back down into an angry, unamused kiss. James bit at his lips, blindly felt up his thighs until he had Aleks’ leg back around his waist, until he had Aleks spread out for him and he could get as close as he wanted.

“James,” Aleks gasped, reached between them to wrap his hand around them both, give them something a little more solid to pump into, his palm immediately slick with pre again, his thumb pressing firmly into James’ dick, along the shaft and then the head, where he dug in under the glans and rubbed until James was trembling, making those fucking noises again.

“You’re gonna come first again,” James grunted, and fuck, he was being an asshole even now, of course he was.

“The humiliation,” Aleks tried to deadpan, but his voice went a little high and he had to tilt his head back and just try to breath because James was pressing fingertips into his hips, holding tight, and Aleks wasn’t used to being touched so possessively but he was kind of into it in a _yes, pretend you’re in charge_ way. He didn’t think James was stupid, he wouldn’t be doing _this_ with him if he did, but there was a part of him that liked that James was kind of going caveman in his lust.

“So fucking,” James breathed out against his neck, and Aleks could feel him shaking with the effort it took to talk, to hold back, “So fucking _annoying_.”

“Spoiled rotten,” Aleks reminded him, and then pulled the tie tighter, until his knuckles were brushed against James’ throat, made him look up so they were eye-to-eye again, fluttered his eyes and said with his most demanding voice, “And I want it, so fucking give it to me, James.”

And, just like that, James was coming. He froze up, his face going tight and his eyes squeezing shut, an expression that Aleks was sure would haunt him. He jerked his hips once, twice more, and then there was heat and wet against Aleks’ fingers, a low groan coming from keep in James’ chest, and Aleks laughed, felt _triumphant_ for a good few seconds before James leaned down and bit his lip again and the triumph was washed away to be replaced with that white-out feeling of a good orgasm.

James kissed him through it, and Aleks realized only after he could see straight again that he’d been holding the tie too tight so he loosened his grip. James still didn’t stop, though, just kissed him slow and deep, and Aleks...wasn’t quite used to that, but it was nice. He let go of the tie, trailed his fingers through James’ beard before settling his palm against his jawline, sighed into the kiss and relaxed back into the couch. James was heavy on top of him, but it was a nice weight, made him feel covered but not trapped.

James broke the kiss, finally, when their bodies had both calmed down and Aleks was sated and pleased with himself.

“You,” Aleks said, a little gleefully, “Were _into that_.”

“How do you ruin everything so fast,” James groaned, pressed his forehead to Aleks’ shoulder to hide his face, and Aleks felt another laugh bubbling in his chest.

“You’re a sick dude, James. I can’t believe you actually came when I told you to.”

“I’ve made so many mistakes in my life,” James said mournfully, muffled into his shoulder, and then set up slowly. Aleks let him, stayed sprawl after he let his leg drop from around James’ waist.

“I’m going to take advantage of that,” Aleks said, upfront about his intentions, and James rolled his eyes so hard Aleks was almost afraid for them.

“This isn’t happening again,” He said severely, “Absolutely not. Mistake. Huge, very big, mistake.”

“You can’t resist me,” Aleks stretched out, arms above his head, arches his back to work out a cramp and smirked at the way James eyes stuttered down his body, “You want to kiss me. I make your loins quiver.”

“Okay, yep, I’m done,” James stood up, pulled his boxers and slacks up and started doing up his pants, “You’re a fuckin’ weirdo, I hope you know that.”

“Maybe,” Aleks glanced over the couch, where his sweats were laying in a pile on the floor, “Get me those, dude. Why’d you throw them so far?”

James sighed, looking strained, but he couldn’t hide the relaxed set of his shoulders, the pleased flush of his cheeks, the wrinkled shirt and ruined tie. _Aleks_ had done that, and James knew it, so he went to get the sweatpants without complaining. He still threw them at Aleks’ head, but Aleks couldn’t blame him. Not only had James come first, but he’d done it because Aleks had _demanded it_ , and that was hot and funny in equal measure. Aleks would let him lick his wounds before he took advantage of it in the future. The next three weeks didn’t look so bad, after all. James wasn’t entirely pleasant to be around, but he was hot and responded so well to Aleks’ cues without even realizing he was doing it. He could put up with a little unpleasantness for that.

He shimmied his sweats back on, looked at his hand for a second and then James and then back and forth until James sighed explosively.

“You’re fuckin’ _somethin_ ’,” He growled, just looked angrier when Aleks gave an exaggerated shiver at the sound.

He went to the kitchen, though, and brought back a dish towel that Aleks took with a grin that made James look both angrier and a little flustered. He wiped his hand off, let it fall to the floor, and then pulled his legs back in and set up so he wasn't taking up the whole couch anymore.

“Wanna finish a few more episodes?”

“What the fuck’s it matter to me?” James said gruffly, but he set back on the couch - much more open and relaxed than before, and they watched two more episodes before Aleks finally fell asleep on the couch, feet tucked under James’ warm thigh.

-

The thing about going to sleep relaxed is that you usually wake up relaxed.

That, sadly, was not the case for Aleks. This time, at least, he didn’t wake up sweaty and gross on his bathroom floor - he just woke up to James yelling something into his phone that Aleks was too sleep-addled to understand.

It wasn’t bright out, but the sun was up - just barely, dying the room in a purple hue that leant itself to the warm dog in Aleks’ lap and the soft murmurings of what Aleks was pretty sure was episode two of the second season in the background. What it didn’t match was the restrained worry in James’ tone, the way he was standing stock still, ramrod straight, a stoic silhouette that made Aleks realize something was wrong.

“James?” He shook his head, rubbed at his eyes until he was _awake_ , “What’s -”

“We gotta go.” James said brusquely, shoving his phone in his pocket and reaching out to tug him up. Aleks went, because he was still mostly asleep, and let himself be steered toward his bedroom.

“Why do we gotta go, again? Can’t it wait?”

“Aleks,” James stopped them, turned Aleks around and gripped his shoulders tight. His face was serious, no sight of the slimy customer service smile or the small grin he’d been wearing last night. It was almost cold, how he looked now. “You’ve been compromised. Law’s sending people after you.”

“I’m safe here,” Aleks blinked again, finally waking up properly, “Geoff’s tricked this place out, dude, I’m not supposed to leave when I’m being targeted,”

“I gave the guard fifty bucks and he let me up,” James said tightly, “That secret staircase isn’t exactly secret. We didn’t _find it_ , Aleks, we asked the front desk if they’d seen you leave and they mentioned you might have taken the emergency exit. This place isn’t secure. That was Ramsey’s people on the phone, they gave me an address to take you - somewhere safe.”

“I’m not leaving,” Aleks shrugged his hands off, “I know what I’m supposed to do in situations like this, I’m not supposed to -”

“Aleks!” James snapped, loud enough that Aleks went quiet, shrunk in a little. James stopped, took a deep breath, “Listen to me.” he said, a little calmer, “My team can’t secure this place. It’s too big, it’s too open, it’s too easy to access and the security isn’t tight. People are coming here, and they’re going to fucking kill you and me and your fucking dog and my people if you don’t listen to me, pack a bag, and follow me to a safehouse. Just - just trust me, okay? Can you do that?”

“I,” Aleks hesitated, unsure and suddenly - scared. Leave his apartment? That was the exact opposite of everything he knew, everything he’d been told since he was fourteen. He wasn’t supposed to leave the apartment when he was in trouble, not unless one of the others was with him. Mishka whined at his feet and he looked down, suddenly worried for her. The dogs always went first, when people were going down. He reached up, wrapped his hand around his locket.

“You’re _sure_ you were talking to Geoff’s people?”

“It was our contact, yes.” James tightened his hands on Aleks’ shoulders, and then the front door handle was rattling and James stepped in front of him, turned to face the entrance of the hallway with his hand on his holster.

Seeing him like that, ready to fucking shoot someone, sealed the deal for Aleks. This was...this was serious.

The door opened, James drew his gun, but a woman’s voice called out, “James!?”

“Anna,” James dropped the gun back to his holster, “Jesus, Anna, what the fuck, we’re on red alert right now!”

“Yeah, I know!” The small woman from a few days ago came into view, her hair up in a loose tie, slacks and a dress shirt and a gun, “Where the hell are you!? You’re supposed to be in the car right now!”

“Just -” James looked over his shoulder at Aleks, “Just watch the door, okay? We’ll be ready to leave in two minutes. Right, Aleks?”

“Right,” Aleks turned around and hurried into his bedroom. He had an emergency bag, of course he did, but it didn’t have the _important_ things. If he was going to a safehouse, there were some things he couldn’t leave behind.

“Aleks, seriously, hurry up, man,” James said from the doorway, and Aleks pointed at his closet without looking at it.

“Behind the shoes, there’s a duffel bag. Go grab that for me,”

James didn’t argue, and that was another sign that this was real, that this was a scary situation and that Aleks needed to hurry up.

While James was getting that, Aleks went to his top drawer and pulled it open. Inside was his box, where he kept the things he held most important - a few good pictures of the crew when he was a kid, important papers, some trinkets that would be relatively worthless and a few more monetarily valuable pieces of jewelry that Gavin had gifted to him, and the fob he’d stolen from James. When he turned around, lockbox in hand, James was waiting impatiently with his duffel on his shoulder and Mishka at his side.

“Is that it?” James looked around, “Nothing else? Get a sweatshirt or a jacket.”

“No,” Aleks shoved his sneakers on, grabbed a sweatshirt, “No, that’s it.”

James followed him out of the room, so close that he was resting a hand on the small of Aleks’ back, and Aleks refused to think of it as comforting but it was.

Mishka followed happily, totally unaware of all the crazy shit going on, and Anna stopped them from going out of the front door.

“Asher says people are already out front.”

“Jesus,” James muttered, turned them around so they could start walking toward the outside area, “Looks like that staircase is getting a little more use.”

“This is getting a little intense,” Aleks said, going for joking and just barely making it. He was trying to remember his training, trying to stay calm. But this wasn’t a gun in his face or an angry client or stranger threatening him. This was like being hunted, and he’d never had to deal with that before.

“That’s why I’m here,” James responded, making it look like a natural motion when he pushed the door to the outside world open and led Aleks through it, “You’re safe, don’t flip your shit until we’re in the car.”

“I’m not gonna flip my shit, asshole,” Aleks rolled his eyes, but he did stuff his box in the duffel and then pick Mishka up instead while James was opening up the closet and then the secret stairway.

“Figured that out fast, huh?” He commented, and Anna made a tense, amused noise behind him.

“Nothing escapes his notice for long.” She said quietly, and then the door to the stairway was opening and James was standing aside so she could fit between them, gun drawn, to take lead.

“I’m gonna watch our backs,” James said quietly when Aleks turned wide eyes on him, “Don’t worry. The only bullet that’s gonna fuck up that cute face is mine.”

“I thought you said I wasn’t cute?” Aleks said immediately, grinned despite his nerves when James just rolled his eyes in response and shoved him toward the stairs.

He followed Anna, only after he was sure James was at his back, and waited until James had closed the door and was coming down the stairs before he really started walking.

He had to put Mishka down eventually, she was too heavy to carry when he was already going down so many flights of stairs, but she stayed at his side, just a little behind him. James tripped on her once but, aside from a curse, didn't do much about it. They went fast, and James didn't let Aleks stop to rest like he’d had to when he’d snuck out. He was panting and regretting the sweatshirt by the time they reached the bottom, James not in much better shape but hiding it a little more. Anna had reached the bottom a bit before them and she and Mishka were both fucking fine, much to Aleks’ annoyance.

There were two SUVs - identical, the same kind that Aleks remembered seeing at the airfield - waiting, the blond man and the tall kid in front of one and Joe in front of the other.

“Hey, Joe.” Aleks waved from his position leaning over his knees and wheezing, and Joe waved back, smiling a little. “Sorry if I got you in trouble.”

“Not the first time James has ripped me a new one.” Joe shrugged and then knelt down to happily receive Mishka’s affections.

“Speaking of,” James snapped and the blond guy and Anna both went to one SUV while the tall kid went to the other, before turning back to Aleks with a frown, “Aleks, you’ve got two choices regarding Mishka.”

“What -” Aleks frowned, turning to look at him, still catching his breath, “What do you mean?”

“From here on out, we’re on the run until the Fakes get back. People could be hunting us for a while.”

“Yeah, and?”

“And,” James actually did look a little sorry to say it, “We can take her with us. Or...she can go with Joe. I told you he’d protect her, and he will. Away from the danger zone.”

“You want me to leave my dog!?”

“No,” Joe broke in, “No, I'd take her somewhere safe, I promise. Out of the city, plenty of room to run, three meals a day, play time. The works, until you get back.”

“But -” Aleks snapped his fingers and she trotted over, looked up at him with her big doggy grin. She'd been a present from Ryan - he’d thought she’d be a good attack dog, but Aleks and Gavin had spoiled her and she was too sweet and people-loving for Ryan to train by the time he’d pried her from Aleks’ fingers.

“You're in danger, Aleks.” James said quietly, “And that means that she is, too, while she’s with you. Joe will take good care of her.”

“This…” Aleks swallowed, scratched at her head, “Dude, this isn't cool. What the fuck, man.”

James didn't have anything to say to that but Anna banged on the side of the SUV with a shouted, “Guys, we gotta go!”

Mishka made a gruff barking noise at the bang, tail pointed but swinging slow, and Aleks squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.

“Okay. Okay. But you fucking - you better, I better get pictures, you better take such good fucking care of her, dude, or I swear to God,”

“I will!” Joe swore, opened the back door and patted the seat until, slowly, Mishka left Aleks’ side and jumped in. He shut the door and she immediately stood up to look out of the window, pawing at it a few times. She barked at him and he heard it, just barely, through the bulletproof glass and metal of the SUV.

“Can you, uh, let Trevor and Brett know I’m safe, at least? Trevor is gonna come around soon with my - with my fuckin’ phone! I don’t even have my phone!”

“It’s traceable,” James cut in, “You couldn’t have taken it anyway. Joe will let them know. Right, Joe?”

“Right.” Joe stuck his hand out and, still kind of pissed off at the whole situation, Aleks took it and shook it once, hard, before dropping it.

“Pictures to James, then,” Aleks grumbled, and Joe smiled a little sadly.

“Pictures to James,” He repeated back, firm, and only then did Aleks let James bully him into getting in the back of the other SUV.

James followed him, shut the door, and Aleks twisted around in his seat to look at Joe’s SUV even while the engine in his rumbled and then came to life and slowly rolled out of the private parking lot.

He didn’t turn around until they’d left the parking lot and the SUV was out of sight. The tall kid was in the back with them, but he was as far away as he could be and had his earbuds in, sunglasses on but head tilted in a way that said he could have been asleep.

James was next to him, close, and Aleks was mad but...not mad at him, at least.

“Thanks,” He muttered, nudged James’ shoulder but refusing to look at him. “For, you know, getting us out.”

“It’s my job.” James shrugged and nudged him back, voice quiet and just a little teasing, “I’m not gonna get my team killed because a hot twink with too much money smiled at me, so.”

“You think I’m hot?” Aleks smiled when James rolled his eyes with a disgusted noise, “But, uh, seriously...thanks. I didn’t know it was...this serious. I’m sure you weren’t paid for this extreme of a safety protocol.”

“Dude, this is literally my job. That wasn’t a line.”

“I _mean_ ,” It was Aleks’ turn to roll his eyes, “That you probably weren’t expected to whisk me away to some far off safe house. Gavin wouldn’t have let me stay if he knew it was gonna be _this_ serious.”

“How do you know?” James frowned, turned a little to look at him, “What makes you so sure they wouldn’t have still left if they knew?”

And maybe it was just because James had saved his life, or he was remembering that slow kiss after they’d finished last night, or he was still tired or he just...wasn’t in the mood to fight, but Aleks scoffed at him and just said, because it was the simplest and most accurate answer, “Because they’re my family, dude. Despite what you and a bunch of other assholes seem to think, they _care_ about me.”

He reached up, wrapped a hand around his locket again, felt the sharp edges against his hand. He wanted to open it, look at the script inside, but he resisted the urge to break it open. He knew what it said, what it meant, that it was true.

“...sorry,” James turned back to looking out of the window, “For, you know. Blowing up at you the other day. I was, you know...You pissed me off. I don’t usually like spoiled brats.”

“Usually, huh?” Aleks picked up, grinned a little, and then grinned wider when James refused to turn and look at him.

“Usually,” James grunted, “And it’s gonna be _ever_ if you don’t stop sounding so goddamn smug. Jesus.”

“Yeah, sure,” Aleks set on his hands, not sure what else to do with them, “You -”

“Yes,” James dropped his voice, “I want to kiss you, I _know_. Now shut up before Jakob fucking hears you.”

“You still haven’t introduced your team.”

“You didn’t seem interested.”

“Yeah, well,” Aleks shrugged, looked at his feet, “Might as well know who I’m gonna be spending three weeks with, right?”

“I guess,” James shrugged again, but he sounded pleased, Aleks thought.

“And, uh,” Aleks dropped his voice even quieter, “It’s okay. You know. You aren’t the first person to make...implications about why Gav and the others keep me around. You’re the first one to apologize, though.”

“You’re making it weird again,” James grumbled, but he was flushed when Aleks side-eyed him, and it made Aleks’ stomach flip. Fuck.

“I’m not making it weird, _you’re_ making it weird -”

“Oh my god,” James groaned, dropped his arm over Aleks’ shoulders and pulled him so he was leaning against him, “Fuckin’ go to sleep, _Christ_.”

“Where are we going that I can _sleep_ while we get there?”

“Las Vegas.”

“We’re going to _Nevada_!?”

“Colorado, actually,” James left his arm over his shoulders, relaxed and secure, “The Fakes left us a private plane in case something drastic happened. We’ll fly out from an airfield there and get to Colorado by tonight.”

“You guys work fast,” Aleks hesitantly relaxed against James’ side, rested his head on his shoulder and pulled his legs up into the wide seat, tossed them over James’ lap both to be irritating and to get comfortable.

“We’re prepared.” James said after a short pause where he let Aleks get situated with an annoyed, but defeated, look on his face, and Aleks grinned at him as smugly as he could.

Three weeks of annoying James maybe wouldn’t be so bad.

Even in Colorado.  

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to [kenn](http://allrighthello.tumblr.com/), [tay](http://nealinator.tumblr.com/), and [myriadus](http://myriadus.tumblr.com/) for betaing this for me!!! And to [phoenix](http://amanduh-hess.tumblr.com/) for being amazing and letting me cry on him literally just all the time! u guys are my favorite and i really could not do anything without u guys <3
> 
> OK SO YES HELLO HI IM SO SORRY FOR THE HIATUS its mostly finished now (hopefully)! ill at least have a chapter next week ready and then its just.....three chapters after that haHAHA (*crossing fingers that i can get them done on time*). I was gonna wait until I had everything finished but this semester is really kicking my ass so i thought id post this now!!

The jet was smaller than any of the other ones that the Fakes owned and it didn’t have any of the usual branding, but Aleks didn’t pay much attention to that as James helped him out of the car. He stumbled, still drowsy, but James didn’t let him fall, even if he did laugh at him.

He didn’t plan to stay awake very long. Car rides always made him sleepy, and flying made him nervous enough that he wouldn’t let the jet take off until Anna and Jakob threw their hands up and disappeared into the air field’s small waiting building to buy some sleeping pills.

“Look,” He grumbled, crossing his arms when he caught James giving him an exasperated look, “I don’t like flying. I’m not getting off the ground unless I’m knocked the fuck out.”

“You have to fly all the time,” James rolled his eyes, “Dude, seriously, you’re a hot, young rich kid - you gotta leave LS all the time.”

“It’s AC,” Aleks corrected snottily, “And no, I don’t. Maybe every couple months, Gav or Brett want to go somewhere else but that’s it. And I knock myself out, like I said. No trip to Paris is worth that many hours in a damn plane.”

“You’re ridiculous.” James sighed loudly, but he didn’t shove Aleks’ legs where they were resting against the seat next to him, Aleks’ feet pressed under his thigh again like they had been last night. The other guy, Asher, was standing outside, back to them, and Aleks had taken advantage of the privacy to make himself a little more comfortable until it was time to take his pills and wake up in Colorado.

“That wasn’t what you said last night.”

“That’s going to be your response to everything I say for the next three weeks,”

“That _was_ what you said last night,” Aleks teased and felt just a little like he’d achieved something when James had to bite back a grin.

“You’re a smartass,”

“Not the worst thing I’ve been called. Not even the worst thing I’ve been called by you.”

James started to respond, looked like he was gonna say something insulting, but stopped when there was a loud bang on the back of the SUV. Aleks looked over, frowning, and was met with Anna smiling through the window and pointing to a box of sleep aids.

“Time to get on the plane, Aleks.” James pulled the handle, but didn’t push the door open just yet. “It’s just a few hours, so…don’t be surprised if you wake up somewhere that isn’t the plane. That shit can knock you out for a while.”

“You gonna carry me over the threshold?”

“Yeah, like a sack of potatoes,”

“A sack of potatoes that you got off with -”

“Aaaand we’re out of the car, get the fuck out -” James shoved at his legs, pushed the door open and climbed out without looking back at Aleks. Still, Aleks was pretty sure he caught a flush to his face as he turned away.

Anna handed the box over with a flourish that Aleks would have appreciated if she weren’t handing over his last excuse to not take off. Honestly, he was usually so groggy by the time that he got to the jet that Gavin just led him on and then he was out like a light until someone made him get up to dismount. This time, he popped four out of the bottle and held them tight in his fist as he made himself walk up the stairs and settle into one of the seats. The inside was smaller than he was used to, too, not low-class but still not the level of luxury that he was accustomed to riding in, either. He could stand up straight, but there wasn’t much room to walk and he doubted there was a suite he could sleep the pills off in. James sat next to him, left space between them that Aleks was thankful for in the already cramped space, and Aleks looked at him to say something about how small the jet was - he hadn’t even known that the Fakes owned jets this small anymore - and then stopped.

James was nervous.

It wasn’t a tremble or anything, nothing so strong. Aleks doubted most other people would have noticed - he wouldn’t have, except that Aleks was kind of trained to notice. Just the way that his hands were relaxed into the armrests but his arms were tight against him, the press of his lips, the slight sheen of sweat across his forehead that could have been from the outside heat. He was keeping it well under wraps, sprawled in his chair casually, but his body language was all wrong.

Aleks weighed his options: he could say something…or he could leave it be, take his pills and drift off. If it were him, he wouldn’t want anyone to point out that he wasn’t in his element, not that James had ever held back from calling him out on shit, but...it was Aleks’ fault that James was on the damn jet in the first place, that they’d drug out whole thing so Aleks could be comfortable when James was apparently freaking out even more.

“Hey,” he finally settled on, “Distract me until the pills kick in.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” James looked at him, rolled his eyes hard again when Aleks wriggled his eyebrows in response, but it was vaguely amused enough that Aleks took it for a win.

“Tell me about - something. How’d you guys meet? Your team, I mean, before you try to be a smartass.”

“It’s a long story,” James warned, “You’re not gonna be awake for most of it.”

“Perfect,” Aleks turned toward him, settled in, “Get talkin’.”

“You’re such a fuckin’ pain,” James frowned, but he turned toward Aleks, too.

“Yeah, but -”

“I swear to God,” James cut him off, “Say it one more goddamn time and it’s never happening again.”

“I thought it was never happening again already,” Aleks grinned, a little gleefully, “It was a _mistake_ , remember?”

“I’ve never hated someone so fast before.”

“Hated and wanted to -”

“We met working security a couple years ago, Jesus _Christ_ ,” James actually slumped, looking defeated, “Joe and I’ve known each other since we were kids, I brought him with me when I started working my way up the ranks of the company I work for. Anna and Asher joined up a couple years later, and Jakob is newer. He’s only been with us a couple months. In training.”

“That’s not a long story at all.”

“Well, I left out a few explosions here and there.”

Aleks, intrigued, was about to demand that he elaborate when there was a loud, echoing _bang_ from just outside. Aleks flinched off of his chair and onto the ground, covering his head instinctively as he felt James drop next to him with a muttered curse. He took half a second to get himself back under control and then pushed up on his knees and looked out of the window in the hopes of catching site of their attacks. He saw a car he didn't recognize and three men, including someone holding a gun who looked startlingly like - and then he was being pulled down to the floor. James wrapped an arm over his shoulder, shielding him with his body, and Aleks was stuck between pressing close to him and getting up to double-check, blood rushing and heart racing.

“James,” he said, but there was another gunshot and then a second, and Anna rushed passed them to the cockpit and then came back without looking at them.

“We’re taking off,” She said tightly, “Brace yourselves, I’m gonna try to get the door shut.”

“Be careful,” James ordered and, gun in hand, expression hard and fierce, she nodded. Aleks watched her until she disappeared from view and then looked back at James, wide eyed and conflicted.

James shifted against him to get his other arm free and Aleks saw him press his earpiece in, “Status.”

Aleks couldn't hear anything, but he didn't know if he was supposed to feel reassured when James held him tighter under his arm.

“James,” he said, a little more insistent, “Seriously -”

“Aleks, this really isn't the time -” James stopped him, sounding tense. There was another _bang_ , closer and sparking all the _danger_ senses in Aleks’ body - Anna must have started to return fire.

“I think I saw Kovic out there,” Aleks tried to twist to look through the window again, “That’s -”

“Listen to me,” James stopped him, another shot sounding from just outside his window. The jet was vibrating, gearing up to take off. He could hear Anna shouting, though not what she was saying. James made him look at him, and his face was serious and stiff, “There are a _lot_ of guys that kinda look like Kovic, one of those guys has a gun, they’re here to fucking kill you. I know you’re scared, but I need you to just keep down, okay?”

“I think I’d know my own damn _family_ -”

“Aleksandr, just _trust me_ and _keep down_ -”

The jet - _shuddered_ , throwing them both against the side as it suddenly started to move, gaining speed even as the sound of the door finally sealing shut echoed. Anna ran past again, this time toward the cockpit instead of away. She didn’t stop to talk to them again, but Aleks caught a flash of crimson on her as she passed and that, more than anything, made his mouth go dry enough that he shut up.

James dragged Aleks tight to his side, tucked Aleks’ head to his chest and braced himself between the seats with Aleks against the wall, pinning them so they didn’t go flying when the jet suddenly tilted up as they started to take off. Aleks, not knowing what else to do, held on to him tight, half wondering if he’d crushed the pills in his palm to little bits yet. His stomach flipped and then flew up into his throat and he squeezed his eyes shut, pressed his face to James’ shoulder and held his breath like that would somehow make it better.

“I’ve got you, just hold on,” He heard James say quietly, almost like he didn’t think Aleks would hear, and felt a big hand against the back of his head.

He felt when they tilted up properly, like they were on a rollercoaster. They both slid back into Aleks’ seat and James took the brunt of it, hissed and grunted in pain and clutched at Aleks’ shoulder as the jet suddenly went nearly sideways. They started to slide again, toward the other side of the jet now, and Aleks did the only thing he could think to do and hooked one foot under the seat in front of him and braced the other foot against the partner chair. He grabbed at James’ waist when he started to slide and they clung together against gravity trying to drag them down.

The jet evened out all at once – going from practically sideways to level in an instant – and James ended up nearly crushing Aleks against the wall, his hand against the back of Aleks’ head the only thing that stopped Aleks from cracking it against the wall of the plane. He was sure James’ knuckles would bruise from the hit.

The world that had gone to chaos was back to calm, if a stomach-flipping calm.

James didn’t immediately let go of him and, honestly, Aleks didn’t want him to. They stayed crouched on the floor together, breathing slowly evening out, until Anna reappeared - looking ruffled, the left sleeve of her white blouse ripped and bloody and her hair a mess but otherwise perfectly put together.

“The jet got a little banged up. Ash isn’t sure if she’ll make it all the way to Denver, he’s gonna find an airfield and land so he can look her over. We might be breached.”

“What,” James slowly lifted his head from where it had been tucked against Aleks, “What the _fuck_ kind of _flying_ was that!?”

“Jakob had the controls,” She said dismissively, but even her cheeks were a little green. When Aleks looked a little closer, the façade of an unruffled woman faded a little. There was a red mark on her forehead, a little swollen, like she’d hit her head and she was careful to keep one of her hands tucked just a little behind her back.

“Your arm -” Aleks reached out a little, couldn’t stop looking at it. He’d seen people injured before, of course he had, but not directly because they were protecting _him_.

“Oh,” She looked down at the injury and then back at him, “Don’t worry, it’s not the worst I’ve ever had. Jakob’s gonna stitch me up.”

“Jesus, Anna,” James finally released his hold on Aleks and clambered shakily to his feet, pulling Aleks up with him, “You got way too close. You okay? Did you get a look at them? Aleks says he saw Kovic - I’m assuming Adam Kovic from Fakehaus.”

“I’m fine,” She used her uninjured arm to brush some stray hair out of her face, frowning thoughtfully. It was the hand she’d had tucked behind her back and Aleks caught a flash of wet red along a few of her fingers. “I mean, I saw a man with similar facial hair, I guess, from the pictures I’ve seen of him. But those men were definitely Law’s. Why would Fakehaus attack your detail?” She looked at Aleks, confused, “Do your family members make a habit of shooting women on planes?”

“No,” Aleks shook his head, slow. “No, I dunno, I just saw the beard, I guess. I’m sorry you got hurt ‘cause of me, though. Shit, man. You got _shot_.”

“It’s a graze,” She waved her hand, but she smiled a little and it was nice, the way it lit up her face, “Don’t worry, Aleks. It’s our job. You two settle in, we’ll circle the city for an hour or two, find a place to land, then Jakob and Asher will look her over and I’ll take the two of you into the city. We’ll rent out a motel room or something and lay low until morning.”

“Sounds like a plan,” James said, but he was frowning, “I don’t like staying in this place for long. It’s not the safe house.”

“It’s Sin City,” She shrugged the shoulder of her uninjured arm, “We’ll be lost for a few hours, here of all places.”

“I guess,” James paused and Aleks realized that he still had an arm around Aleks’ shoulders, tense, “Go get stitched up. You did good.”

She smiled again, a little brighter, and Aleks watched her go, feeling off balance and still thrumming with adrenaline.

“Fuckin’ planes.” James collapsed back into his seat and rubbed hard at his face, “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Aleks carefully took his seat next to him, suddenly not enjoying the space between them. The gunshots kept going off in his head, an echo. He’d been around guns before, and he’d even shot a few at the range with Ryan, but he’d...never really been shot _at_ before - at least not without one of the Fakes with him. “They. Uh. They caught up to us.”

“Yeah,” James agreed, but didn’t press it. Maybe he could sense that Aleks felt guilty, already. Aleks didn’t often feel guilty, but he could definitely see that maybe this one was a little bit on him.

James didn’t seem interested in rubbing it in, though. He just took a deep breath, pressed his palms to his eyes for a second, and then dropped his hands and looked at him, a little put-out. “You spend a lot of time in Vegas?”

“A little,” Aleks shrugged, “I know a few places. Why?”

“Gotta know where to avoid.” He said, but it was with enough exasperation that Aleks found himself relaxing.

“Okay, okay,” Aleks waved his hand, “I’ll let you know if we stop anywhere familiar. I get it, I’m being hunted. No more being difficult.”

“You? Not be difficult? Bull fuckin’ shit.”

“Shut up, I swear, not even a peep from me. Now rewind, back to the beginning of how you met. Tell me again, and don’t leave anything out. We’ve got two hours to burn here, I’m gonna need some entertainment.”

“The pills’ll kick in soon,” James glanced into the aisle, toward the front of the jet carefully.

“These pills?” Aleks opened his palm and then reopened the bottle and let them clatter back inside, a few in chalky pieces but otherwise okay. After an episode like _that_ , he wouldn’t be artificially knocking himself out until they were properly on their way. “I’m allergic. So, story time, tell me from the beginning.”

“Aleks _andr_!”

“Oooh,” Aleks faked a shiver, “Full name, again? We’re moving so fast, dude. Can you call me that in bed?”

“We’re half an hour off schedule because you demanded someone get you some goddamn pills! Anna got _shot_!”

“I’m _allergic_ , James! Do you want me to die after saving me just because you forced me to take some pills? Are you trying to kill me? Besides, it was a _graze_.”

“How does anyone put up with you? How do you have friends? Why are you so goddamn popular?”

“It’s because I’m attractive. It’s my thing.”

“I’m gonna fuckin’ -” James took a deep, calming breath, and Aleks watched with just a little too much delight. James had turned _red_. Aleks wanted to do it again, he liked the way that James looked torn between thinking he was funny and absolutely hating his guts. Aleks was pretty mellow, for his family being who they were, but he was used to getting reactions from both extremes. Most people loved him or absolutely hated him; James looked like he couldn’t decide which side he fell on, and it made Aleks feel - excited to find out. He had a feeling he knew the answer already.

“I’m gonna lock you in a fucking room the second we get to the safe house. You’re living in a room by yourself until the Fakes get back.”

“As long as there’s a bed and someone to keep it warm for me, I’ll be good to go,” Aleks wriggled his eyebrows again, smiled wider when James just looked done with him. James wrinkled his nose up and Aleks took his chance to reach out, smooth out the ugly pink tie that James was still wearing from last night. They’d both been sleeping on the couch; James hadn’t had the time to change yet. They’d had a few minutes to use the restroom at a gas station an hour out of Achievement City - brush their teeth in front of a public sink that had, honestly, made Aleks a little sick, and grab a small bite to eat - but then he’d gone back to sleep against James’ shoulder again and James couldn’t exactly change into new clothes on the ride to Vegas. It was still a little wrinkled and Aleks took his time rolling it around his fist twice in a mirror to the night before, if a little more carefully, just to hear the way James’ breathing hitched a little.

James glanced down at his hand for just a second, but Aleks saw the way his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, the way his eyes went just a little hazy.

“You,” James leaned in, reached up to rest the tips of his fingers along the underside of Aleks’ jaw, tilt his head up just a little so he could _almost_ ghost their lips together. “Are a fucking brat.”

“But…?” Aleks said quietly, felt his breath catch in his chest at how close they were. He still wasn’t wearing any makeup, he felt _exposed_ , and he kind of liked it.

“But nothing. I don’t reward bratty behavior,” James grinned, sharp and fierce, and wild enough that Aleks actually felt his heart speed up a little, and it took Aleks a hot second to realize his stomach was swooping because there was some turbulence and not because of James - or, at least, not entirely.

“You’re a liar.” he kept his breathing even, didn’t give himself away like James had. Two could play this game, but only one could win and Aleks didn’t lose. “You _like_ when I’m bratty.”

“I really don’t.”

“Yeah?” Aleks dropped his voice even lower, aware of the small space they were in. The chairs were high, and the rest of James’ team had moved to the cockpit or close to is, leaving the back of the jet to them- but he was still careful when he tugged at the tie a little, said, “What was it I said? Spoiled rotten? You didn’t like it when I was bratty then?”

“Not for a fucking second.”

“Prove it,”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Is that a yes to warming my bed?”

James chuckled, quiet and amused. He leaned a little closer, until the hair of his mustache tickled at Aleks’ skin, made him have to bite back a smile. When he talked, their lips brushed.

“I don’t reward brattiness.”

And then he was tugging his tie back, sitting back out of Aleks’ space, the most self-satisfied look on his face that Aleks had ever seen, the _smug fuck_.

“God, you’re - you’re the actual, what kind of cockblocking -”

“Joe and I met when we were kids.” James interrupted, far too _fucking_ pleased with himself, Aleks _hated_ him - but he set back, if a little resentful, and let James tell him the long story.

-

The long story was, in fact, long. James kept to the point for most of the flight, but he went on enough side tangents that the story didn’t wind down until Asher came on the line to tell them that they were close to descending. Aleks could only imagine that it had been just a little embellished - he doubted any one job could have _that many explosions_ or that James had found enough time to action roll so often - but it had been _funny_ and enjoyable, had passed the time. James maybe wasn’t a natural storyteller, but he’d so obviously got into it by the end that Aleks had almost been forced to pay attention if only because James kind of took over every bit of space in the jet he was given and it was hard to not give him all of his attention.

They bickered about it, only quiet during the touchdown, when the jet bounced a few times. And maybe Aleks grabbed James’ wrist when the jet made a weird noise, and maybe James let him, but neither of them were gonna say anything about it.

“I’m just saying,” Aleks scoffed, letting James help him down the stairs and to the dirt runway, “Uncle Burnie doesn’t do the whole assassination thing. He likes when people know it was him.”

“ _Uncle Burnie_ ,” James wrinkled up his nose, “Christ, you call Burnie Burns _uncle_.”

“He _is_ my uncle, I dunno what you want from me,” Aleks laughed at the face he pulled, “Or...maybe closer to my grandpa? But he would probably kill me if I called him that. Barbara thought it would be funny to give him a Best Grandpa mug once and he turned purple.”

“It’s disgusting how well connected you are.”

“Or is it just really hot? You like danger, James? I’m still getting you fired when Gavin comes home.”

“Yeah, sure, okay,” James opened the door to the car that had been waiting for them - they must have called ahead for it while they were still in the air - and then slipped in after him and slammed it shut behind them. Anna was in the car, but she had headphones in and seemed absorbed in her phone for the moment. “Is that before or after you tell him you snuck out to go to a dangerous party and I had to spend my own money to bribe a guard, get in, and drag your ass to a safe place?”

“Definitely before.” Aleks shrugged, turned to look out of the window at the jet, now parked off to the side. Asher was walking around the jet, Jakob at his side and gesturing wildly, and Aleks couldn't hear what they were saying, but Jakob looked - tense and annoyed.

He peered a little closer, tried to see if he could read Asher’s lips - Jakob mumbled, but Asher talked expressively enough that he could maybe get a few words out of him - but James cleared his throat loud enough to make him turn back to him.

He was met with a quirked eyebrow and an unamused look.

“What?” He shrugged, guiltless, “Just curious.”

“Let my team have their privacy,” James said firmly, shaking his head a little, “You're too nosy for your own good.”

“I’ve been told,” Aleks smiled, pleased when James smiled back on reflex before he caught himself. Part of him wanted to go back to looking at Asher and Jakob, something _pinging_ that he should, but the rest of him was a little more concerned with the way James looked when he was annoyed at him.

He bugged James for the half hour they were in the car, looked out at the passing scenery for a bit but was drawn back to pulling at pigtails until James was red in the face and ready to murder him or fuck him or both. Aleks had a feeling that if Anna hadn’t been in the car, he may have been able to pull something that got him laid, but James had seemed serious enough about not letting the rest of his team know and Aleks was well-aware that most people liked to keep him and anything from their lives very removed from each other. Instead, James just stewed in a tension that Aleks could see building in his crossed arms every time Aleks shifted closer or knocked their knees together while he squirmed.

They’d landed on the outskirts of the city, far from the strip, and it wasn’t very familiar at all. Being out of his element had never bothered Aleks, he was adaptable, but it did make him just a little nervous that he only had one friend in the whole state and he didn’t...actually know where he lived or what he looked like. He’d only worked with Marco over the phone and through intermediaries - to avoid any...complications in Marco’s operations - and he definitely didn’t have a last name or memorized phone number. For all intents and purposes, Aleks was alone outside of his detail.

God, he missed his phone.

Still, James was a good enough replacement, entertainment-wise. They bickered, mostly, but it was quiet and felt almost natural. None of it was real annoyance, just playful and a little teasing. It made him feel at least a little more relaxed.

Anna pulled into the first motel they saw - not exactly a classy joint but he had memories, if old ones, of places that were worse - and parked close to the office building while James was flapping at Aleks’ hands.

“I’ll go get us a room.” She glanced at James through the rearview mirror, “I think our funds are a little dried up at the moment. I’ll try for two beds. James, are you okay with sharing?”

“With _you_? Gladly.” James muttered, and maybe it would have come off as flirty if it hadn’t been _James_ , who Aleks wasn’t entirely sure knew what flirting was except for when he was teasing Aleks.

“What? You don’t wanna share a bed with me?” Aleks pressed a hand to his chest, “Is this homophobia at work?”

“Go - get the room,” James pointed with one hand, pinching the bridge of his nose with the other, “If he’s dead when you come back, let’s just pretend we never even knew him.”

“As long as we get paid,” Anna - now wearing an identical, but non-bloodied blouse - laughed quietly, got out of the car and shut the door gently behind her. Aleks watched her disappear into the office, shaking her head all the while, and then turned back to James.

“Afraid you couldn’t control yourself if we shared a bed?”

“You,” James gave him a dark look, “Are pushing, and I dunno that you’re gonna be able to handle how this ends.”

“I think I’ll be just fine,” Aleks ran a hand through his hair, leaned back in his seat and tried to shake out the tension in his shoulders, smiled quick, “But thanks for worrying.”

“That’s my job,” James crossed his arms and joined him in leaning back, arms brushing. It was still bright out, and Aleks looked through the window; at the people walking passed with their dogs, carefree and not being chased down by a crazy man after a diamond ring.

He reached up, wrapped his hand around his charm and squeezed until the sides dug into his palm.

“You really like that thing.” James continued and Aleks blinked, turned back to him and then looked down at his hand, opened his palm to look at the charm.

“Uh, yeah. Gav -”

“Gave it to you since you were going to Indonesia.”

“How romantic, you _were_ paying attention.”

“Haha,” James glanced at it, but he looked mostly bored, if curious, “Why did he get it, though? You didn’t even go to Indonesia.”

“What, was he gonna save it until he _did_ make me do something I didn’t wanna do?”

“It was a _bribe_?”

“Jesus, haven’t you ever given someone something nice because you know you’ve upset them?”

“Not...really? That’s kinda stupid, dude.”

“Every day, you prove that you’re not human just a little more. I’ve slept with an alien.”

“Look, I’m just saying, that thing looks more expensive than some fuckin’ flowers, which is the go-to _I fucked up_ gift.”

Aleks started to reply and then stopped. He remembered the car ride, and pressed his lips together. “You wouldn’t understand. You’re just gonna make fun of me or something.”

“Come on,” James nudged him a little, because apparently it was his turn to be annoying, “I’m not gonna make fun of you. I wanna know.”

“You wouldn’t get it -”

“Try me,” James turned more fully to face him and looked...interested, knees turned toward Aleks and his eyes just wide enough that it kinda caught Aleks up. Those fuckin’ _eyes_.

“Ugh,” Aleks shoved at him, but reached back and carefully unhooked the chain so he could hold the charm out a little for James to get a better look. The silver and gold shimmered a little in the sunlight breaking through the window, the diamonds sparkling and pure - the cut of each one perfect. Looking closer, he realized that in the middle of each side of the book, there was a small red diamond in between the normal ones. He hadn’t noticed before.

Well. No one had ever said Gavin didn’t know how to aestheticize.

He carefully ran his fingers over them, bit his lip against the sudden pang of how much he missed Gavin. There was an urge to pull out his phone and text him - but he didn’t have his phone. And, even if he had, Gavin wouldn’t get it until he got back.

“You know about Law, right? And why he’s after me?”

“Something about a diamond ring?” James shrugged, “Mister Free was pretty sparse with the details.”

“Yeah, well,” Aleks ran the pad of his thumb along the face of the book, felt the slight indents of the gold thread that made his initials, “Something like that. The point is, Gav knew I was gonna be pissed that I was gonna miss Brett’s party, since it’s kind of a big deal. And Gav doesn’t do small gifts. He likes to show the people he cares about that he doesn’t mind blowing way too much cash on them. It’s how he shows affection.”

He pressed his nail gently against the red diamond at the top, breathed out slow. “Flowers die, but diamonds are forever.”

To Gavin, _Aleks_ would last forever. He was a forever kind of commitment, something that Gavin would never throw away.

“Unless you break them,” James pointed out, and it was such a weird thing to say that it broke Aleks’ concentration on the gems in his palm. He slowly looked at him, blinked, and James just shrugged.

“Do you regularly break diamonds? They’re, like, the hardest naturally occurring thing in the world.”

“So?” James pointed at the charm, “Those are cut, baby. That means there’s something that can break ‘em. What’s it matter if it isn’t naturally occurring?”

“ _Ugh_ ,” Aleks closed his hand around the charm, pulled it to his chest, “You’re such an idiot, I knew you wouldn’t understand -”

“No, I get it, I get it,” James laughed, sitting back and putting his hands up a little, “I totally get it, dude,”

“No, you don’t!” Aleks snapped back, rehooking the silver chain around his neck and tucking the locket back under his shirt, “You’re just saying that. You think it’s stupid. What kind of idiot _breaks diamonds_? Also, did you just call me _baby_?”

James smirked, that fucking smug look that Aleks absolutely despised, “Maybe.”

“Do you know who I am? People don’t call _me_ baby!”

“Sure,” James agreed, but it was fucking condescending as hell - wide eyed and straight mouthed, and Aleks was gonna _slap him_ -

“If you two are done flirting,” Anna broke in, having opened the door while Aleks was still floundering - _baby_! - “I have a room for us. One queen, because apparently that’s all they had.”

“Flirting,” Aleks grumbled, shoved the door open - _baby!_ \- and got out. James followed suit, still laughing at him, so Aleks ignored him and followed Anna. They had to go through a creepy gate and it wasn’t until they were through, James had caught up after grabbing his bag from the trunk, and they were going up a flight of stairs that Aleks realized what she said, “Wait, what? _One_ queen?”

James bumped against his back, having been following close enough that he hadn’t stopped in time apparently, but Anna didn’t even pause in her quest for the room number.

“One queen.” She repeated, and then went up the next flight. Aleks glanced over his shoulder at James, who just shrugged, and he exhaled hard in annoyance before continuing up the stairs after her.

Anna had already opened the door and entered the room by the time he and James caught up. When he walked through the threshold, she was standing in the middle of the small room with her gun drawn but her arm relaxed.

“It seems clear,” She holstered her gun and went to the window to draw the curtains “Just stay clear of the windows, sir.”

“Don’t call me _sir_ ,” Aleks said after a second of looking around and taking...everything in. “Just Aleks is fine.”

“Are you gonna say that to every member of my team?”

“Is every member of your team gonna talk to me like I’m an old business man?”

“As fun as it is to watch you two banter,” Anna cut in again, smiling a little, “I’m going back to the jet with Asher and Jakob to see if I can speed up the process. You know those two can get a little caught up if no one is there to keep them on task. We probably won’t stay all night, but try to keep a low profile, okay?”

“Me? Have a high profile?” Aleks set gingerly on the bed, “Never.”

“I was talking more about the Boss Man,” Anna teased, and laughed when James gave her an offended stare. James set Aleks’ bag on the bed next to him and followed Anna back to the door. Aleks watched them whisper together, but James had leaned against the wall in front of her, blocking his sight from both of their mouths, and he dragged his bag into his lap, instead.

He pulled his hoodie off and stuffed it into the bag, leaving him in just the tank and sweatpants. He wanted to get dressed properly, at least, if they were going somewhere. It was bad enough that James’ whole team had seen him in _sweatpants_ , for fuck’s sake.

His emergency bag had...a sparse amount of clothing. A few folded slacks; a pack of boxer briefs and socks; a handful of neatly rolled shirts; a single blazer; a pair of new sneakers and some dress shoes; a bag of bathroom necessities; a small stack of cash and traveling papers for Alex Markov; and - there should have been a burner phone but, even after emptying the whole bag, he couldn’t find it. Fuck, he must have pulled it out for something else and forgot to replace it. Gavin was gonna _kill_ him. God, _Jack_ was gonna kill him.

The door shut, the lock clicked, and he glanced up to see James leaning against the wall, still, and looking at him, arms crossed.

“Everything there?”

“Yep,” He shrugged, slowly packing it all back up except for a fresh pair of boxer-briefs, a shirt, slacks, and his lockbox, “I guess we’re hanging out here until the plane’s back up?”

“Yeah,” James nodded, looking put out, “Worse-case scenario, you and I are going on a road trip.”

“I thought your team was the best.”

“We _are_ the best,” James said sharply, “But even I’m not immune to bullets.”

“Hm,” Aleks hummed, standing up with his clothes in hand, “Sounds like an excuse to me. This dump have a shower?”

“You’ve seen as much of it as I have,” James wrinkled his nose up at him again, and then they both looked around at the room.

It was - small. The whole room was smaller than his bedroom at home; the bed was stiff, the comforter an ugly paisley that probably hadn’t been changed out since the seventies. The walls were a gross, pale yellow and the blinds had aged to match, the curtains the same pattern as the comforter, the carpet an off eggshell. There was, at least, an old box TV on the dresser against the wall across from the bed, and a high-backed chair in the corner with a small, circular table and a stack of magazines.

The air conditioner, an ugly big thing under the window, rumbled as it worked, keeping the room just chilly enough that it was a little uncomfortable.

There was a door next to the entrance, though, and James ducked in for a second before coming back out, nose even more wrinkled up than before - like a bunny, “Here. It’s fuckin’ gross, man, but if you wanna risk it…”

“I need to get clean,” Aleks looked down at himself, rumpled clothes and the sweat he and James had worked up last night still dry on his skin so many hours later, “I’m disgusting.”

“You look fine?” James offered, stepping aside to let him past.

He turned around in the bathroom - which, James had been right, was fucking gross - to look at him, “Thanks, but, somehow, I still feel the urge to get clean. Think I can snatch twenty minutes or are we gonna get shot at again?”

James raised an eyebrow, “If you can get twenty minutes of hot water out of this motel, you deserve the shower.”

“Great.” Aleks said with feeling, and then shut and locked the door.

There was barely enough space to turn around, let along hang up his clothes, so he was forced to use his sweats and tank as a rug to keep his new clothes from being tainted by whatever was on the floor. He got a total of five minutes of hot water and a minute of lukewarm water before it turned icy cold and he had to finish washing shampoo out of his hair as fast as he could and then jump out, cursing all the while.

The towels were rough, but at least they were clean - he dried off quickly, pulled on his clothes and was still angrily pulling his shirt down as he opened the door again.

Steam escaped and the room was even _colder_ with wet hair and he stomped out of the bathroom with his dirty clothes and his lockbox, shoved all of it into his emergency bag and then snatching the bathroom bag with a venom he usually reserved for annoying clients. This was _ridiculous_.

“Good shower?” James asked from where he was lounging on the bed, shoes off and magazine above his head. Where he _got_ it, Aleks had no clue.

“Fuck you,” Aleks retorted, zipping his bag shut and turning back around to get to the sink and mirror across from the bathroom. When he flipped the lights on, he was at least happy to see that the motel had shelled out enough cash for some proper lights. He could _see_ , if not enjoy a shower.

“What are you doing?” James asked, sounding disinterested, “You’d better get some rest while you can, in case we have to run.”

“I’m not going anywhere in Vegas before I at least look presentable.” Aleks muttered, opening his necessities bag to see what was in it. There were just the basics - some foundation, powder, shadow and liner, a few brushes, a spray to set his look, a toothbrush and stick of deodorant - but it was a relief. Nothing else was going his way, but he could at least still do _this_.

James left him be after that and he spent...maybe a little longer than necessary in front of the mirror, with his liner and shadow. It was his favorite palette - he remembered switching this one out for the last one from last season a couple weeks ago, if only he’d replaced the damn phone - and it was just. Calming. To paint his face up and then decide to do something else and start over.

By the time he was really happy, one of the face clothes was destroyed with smeared make up, but his eyes were dark-lined and shimmering and he looked as blemishless and perfect as ever. A diamond, no imperfections - just how he wanted to look.

He felt stronger, when he turned away from the mirror; zipped up his bag and replaced it in his emergency bag and then set that by the side of the bed and went back to the mirror to fix up his hair a little. It was ultimately useless, because he didn’t have any gel, but it was just something else he could do to pass the time until he got bored and returned to the bed to sit carefully.

The mattress dipped, but James didn’t shift much at all and, after a second of adjusting, Aleks joined him in lying down. While James, at least, had a magazine, Aleks was stuck with the ceiling.

He closed his eyes to rest, but he’d already slept so much and he was still kinda thrumming from the plane ride and the shootout and the whole being on the run thing so, mostly, he just laid there with his eyes closed until he couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Let’s do something.”

“No.”

He frowned, opened his eyes and turned on his side to look at James, “Aren’t you _bored_?”

“No.” James repeated, flipping the page.

“Aren’t your arms tired?”

“Not really.”

“What are you reading?”

“A magazine.”

“ _Which_ magazine?”

“I - fuckin’,” James turned the cover so they could both see, “Jesus, it’s _Time_. Can you just watch some TV or sleep or something?”

“I’ve slept _so much_ ,” Aleks set up, “And I think I’m gonna vibrate out of my skin. I need to do something. Go somewhere.”

“We’re not leaving the motel,” James said firmly, “It’s not happening. We can’t risk you being recognized.”

“But -”

“We’re,” James dropped the magazine and set up, “Not leaving.”

“Ugh,” Aleks flopped back down, “God, this is the _worst_. We’re in _Vegas_ and we can’t even go anywhere.” He exhaled as hard as he could, turned onto his side to look at James with interest, “Have sex with me to pass the time?”

“I - wow, yeah, how seductive. Fuck you, I’m not a pass-time or a fuckin’ fidget spinner, asshole. It’s just for a few hours, Jesus,” James tossed the magazine onto the circle table and then stood up to go to the dresser and grab the remote from in front of the TV, “Here. Try to find a movie or something.”

He handed Aleks the remote, who took it with a mulish glare, and then spent the next fifteen minutes flipping through the thirty two channels offered and the six static channels after that.

James picked the magazine back up but when he set back down on the bed  he settled in a lot closer than before and the dip in the mattress had Aleks sliding a little closer - not that he did all that much to stop it.

James huffed in annoyance, but he shifted a little and Aleks shifted a little until they were sitting flush together, Aleks boredly flicking through the channels and James slowly turning pages over and over until he reached the end, only to start from the front again.

Aleks settled on some talk show, an old guy talking about something he didn’t give a shit about, and then he stretched out a little and dropped a hand on his thigh, fingers brushing against the leg of James’ pants. James flipped another page, a little more forceful, and Aleks suppressed a smile.

Somehow, he didn’t think James would pick _Time_ over him for much longer.

-

“Seriously,” James groaned against his neck, dragging his hands down his side to squeeze at his hips and waist, “Seriously, we can’t keep doing this, it’s so fucking unprofessional,”

“Who _cares_ ,” Aleks pushed against his chest until he laid back down and then just took a second to look at him. James was - yeah, he could work with this, for sure. His face was still flushed from when Aleks had managed to get a good few of his buttons undone before he’d got distracted - and, god, his _hair_. Aleks really liked his hair.

“Anna would skin me alive,” James gripped at his hips, rolled against him a little and they both sighed at the feeling. Aleks started to grind down in a slow, steady rhythm, one hand resting against James’ chest and the other going to grab one of his hands where it was clutching at his side.

“I’m sure she’ll understand,” He swallowed, leaning back a little against James’ bent-up leg. He’d lost his pants at some point and his shirt when he’d gone down on James, but James had only let him get his pants down to mid-thigh again before he’d been stopped.

“You’re gonna get me killed,” James pulled him down for a hard, frantic kiss that distracted Aleks long enough for James to flip them over and get a hand under his boxer briefs.

He made a pleased noise into their kiss, tangled his fingers in James’ hair and tugged at his hips until they were working together in a hard, desperate rut.

Maybe the wait wouldn’t be so bad after all.

-

It was purely for economic reasons that they showered together - because they had six minutes of warm water all around and there was no telling when they’d have to leave so it really did only make sense.

If James ended up blowing him against the shower wall before the water was turned on - well. Economical.

-

Anna came back for them around two in the morning. James was grumpy and tired, because he hadn’t slept at all while Aleks had passed out after the shower, so Aleks didn’t push too much. He even carried his own bag, because he was _nice_ and it was the closest thing to a _thanks for the blowjob_ that he was gonna give. Also, James’ back was bruised to shit from when he’d slammed into the chairs and Aleks felt _maybe_ just a little bad about it.

“It was all cosmetic damage,” Anna said, on the drive back, “But we waited until after midnight to avoid being seen. We’ll get in probably around five or six, then to the safe house around eight.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Aleks watched the outside world pass by as Anna drove. James had closed his eyes and slumped against the door when they started moving, so he kept his voice down on the off chance that he’d managed to get some rest. Aleks had never met a more uptight fucker in his life - hopefully a few minutes sleep would get him to relax. Even mid-orgasm, he’d been tense as a board.

“Did you guys manage to pass the time without fighting?”

“Yeah,” He smirked just a little, watched the lights bleeding together, “Yeah, we figured something out.”

When he glanced over, James’ face had gone soft. He really did fall asleep - what a fucking idiot, seriously, against the _door_. A good pot hole was gonna brain him. He almost reached out for him to make him lean against Aleks instead, the last thing he needed was a _brain injury_ – but stopped himself. What the fuck was he _doing_?

Something stupid and a little warm starting in the pit of his chest, Aleks went back to looking out of the window. He refused to look at James for the rest of the ride, not until the warmth had faded.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys!!! look, i updated on time for once!  
> my next few days are really busy but im hoping that ill be able to keep weekly updates at least for once more week. if not, there are only 3 chapters left so it shouldnt be TOO LONG a wait :( 
> 
> as always, thank you to tay (@nealinator), kenn (@alrighthello), and phoe (@romeosregrets) (and also @myriadus and @sippingandshipping on tumblr)!!! i may come back and edit in links for everyone but im very tired rn asdfjkl you can find links for them in previous chapters or search for them on tumblr! theyre honestly all the best and i couldnt do without them <3

Aleks took the pills for the flight to Colorado, because James was drowsy from the short nap in the car and didn’t look interested in being a distraction and, honestly, Aleks was still feeling a little thrown off by whatever weird thoughts had formed during the car ride.

He was out before the wheels left the ground, curled up in his chair with his back to James and his bag in his lap, fingers tight in the material.

He dreamed of the Fakes, sort of. He never saw them, but he knew they were there. He was at home, sitting on his couch, watching Game of Thrones except the whole cast had been switched around and it made sense in the dream but he knew it was also wrong. Gavin was in his kitchen, he could hear the mellow tilts of his accent as he spoke to himself in that way he did when he was cooking. He didn't turn, but he knew the others were in his pool, even if he didn't hear them.

He watched Dinklage-as-Jon-Snow as he walked through a dark, snowy forest; pressed his feet under a warm thigh and smiled into his hand when he got an explosive sigh in return. He didn't look, didn't want to break the rules and let James know that Aleks had even noticed.

He felt a warm hand on his ankle, fingers stroke along the delicate skin, and it made his breathing hitch a little, hypersensitive where James was touching - and then there was a gunshot and it was like in the jet, he flinched and jolted awake, nearly knocking his bag out of his seat.

He looked around, clutching his bag close - but he was still in the jet, in his seat, alone. Heart pounding, he turned to the window and took in the sight of another landing strip, dusty and slowly lighting up with the rising sun.

He stood up, slow, and stretched out to calm himself down. He felt...groggy. He doubted that he’d already slept off the three pills he’d taken but something must have woken him up. Shit, what if they’d been caught again? What if everyone was dead?

Where was James?

He reached up and gripped his locket in his hand, slipped his knife out of his pocket and extended the blade before he slowly inched out of the aisle and looked around. The jet was empty, but the door at the front was open so he slipped his bag over his head and made his way to the opening. He glanced into the cockpit - also empty - before he crouched down and looked through the door.

There were stairs from the door to the landing strip, but the world seemed empty and cold in the early morning light leaking over the dirt and dust.

Shit. Where was everyone? He was gonna rip James a new one - why would they leave him alone? The whole point of them is that they are _with him_. Unless they’re fucking dead, and it’s Aleks’ fault because they were only there to stay with him, and he just - he wanted to go home. The diamond wasn’t worth this.

But he had it, and he didn’t have time to whine about it. Gavin would be disappointed if he saw what Aleks was thinking. He gripped his knife harder, slowly made his way onto the stairs and kept down as he made his way to the ground.

He looked around again when he was off the stairs and, just around the jet, he caught sight of the bumper of another SUV and a pair of familiar, ugly skater shoes.

His shoulders turned down in relief - unless Law employed fashion-stupid assholes with a thing for skate shoes, James was alive at least. And he was...he was relieved, because that meant that he wasn’t totally unprotected. That was all.

He flipped the knife a few times, thinking about what his next move was. He could keep going forward, see what was going on; or he could be a little more cautious and go around back.

He was still trying to decide when two other pairs joined James’, some sturdy boots and a pair of Converse. Anna and Asher. He lowered the knife, slowly, and let go of his locket. His spidey-senses had stopped tingling too badly when he’d seen James’ shoes but he was still slow when he continued forward.

Maybe he'd been distracted with his relief and indecision, because he didn't hear anyone coming up behind him until a heavy hand came down on his shoulder.

He’d reacted before he even realized what he was doing, whirling around to slash at his attacker. Jakob reared back with a loud scream, barely avoiding meeting the business end of Aleks’ blade, and Aleks stumbled back and away with a yell of his own. They both ended up on the ground, Jakob a cloud of cursing and Aleks thanking God that he hadn’t landed on his knife.

“Jesus Christ, _asshole_!” Jakob sat up, sunglasses askew, and angrily started to stand, “You could have fuckin’ killed me!”

“Why did you sneak up behind me!?” Aleks snapped back, closing his knife and shoving it back into his pocket before starting to stand up himself, “Are you an idiot!? I’m being _hunted_ , why would grabbing me from behind seem like a good idea to you!”

“I’m - I’m _sorry_!? _Grabbing_ _you -_ you’re the one swaying in the middle of the landing strip! Talk about risky, Free!” Jakob laughed incredulously, pointing accusingly at him, “You shouldn’t be awake, let alone off the - off the fuckin’ jet!”

“I was alone!”

“What the hell is going on here!?” Anna cut in, loud and angry, and both he and Jakob fell quiet, breathing hard and glaring. His heart was still stuttering, residual panic in his veins, making his hands shake a little. Jesus, he needed a drink.

“It wasn’t a rhetorical question, guys!” She said, more forcefully, when neither of them answered, “What _happened_?”

“Our _client_ almost slit my throat, is what happened!” Jakob finally spoke up, fists clenching tight at his sides.

“He grabbed me from behind! It was a panic reaction!”

“Holy shit, dude! I _touched your shoulder_ -”

“People _broke into my apartment_ and _shot at me_! Don’t fucking sneak up on people like that, what is _wrong_ with you -”

“Enough!” James finally broke through, louder than all of them combined. “Jesus, I leave you two alone for two minutes. Jakob, just - seriously, go cool off with Asher. Take care of the jet. Aleks, calm down. It’s fine, no one’s gonna snatch you while we’re here.”

“But you _weren’t_ here,” Aleks narrowed his eyes, accusing now, “I was drugged and left alone on a _jet_ -”

James sighed, stepped between them so he was blocking Jakob from Aleks’ view - or maybe blocking Aleks from Jakob’s, “We were just making sure the car was ready, Jakob was watching the jet.”

“Then how did I get _out_ ,” Aleks asked, his panic slowly feeding into more anger, “I got all the way around the fucking nose before he caught up, so how the fuck was he _watching the jet_!?”

He watched James take a deep breath, keep a lid on his temper, and Aleks maybe shouldn’t have been going off on him but - _fuck_ , his _life was in danger_ and James had left him _alone_ with some _kid_ watching a high-powered air vehicle. If someone had managed to get onto that fucking jet, Aleks would have been alone and drugged in the _sky_.

His head was starting to hurt, eyes heavy and irritated. He just wanted to sleep but, instead, he was standing in some dusty, bright fucking _open air field_ in what he could only assume was Colorado, having to explain to his security team why leaving him alone while he was sleeping wasn’t acceptable.

“You’re right,” James dropped his voice, came a little closer and, when Aleks didn't immediately flinch away, touched his arm. “It was stupid and I'm not gonna leave you alone again, okay? Let's just get in the car and make our way to the safe house and you can yell at me some more there.”

“Fuck you,” Aleks shrugged his hand off, turning on his heels to march toward the car. _Yell at him some more_ , like Aleks was just throwing a fit! James was supposedly the best his agency had to offer and he hadn't even posted someone up in the proper place, _Jesus_. What an amateur fucking mistake.

“Don't.” He snapped at Asher when he came into sight and had started to say something. Asher closed his mouth, wide-eyed, and Aleks wrenched the back door open and got in before slamming it shut behind him.

He collapsed into his seat, curled over his knees and pressed his palms to his eyes, still shaking. The panic wasn't subsiding and he clutched at his hair and just tried to breath. It was just a dream. No one was shooting at him, he wasn't alone, he was okay. It was just a dream. No one was shooting at him, he wasn't alone. He was okay.

He just repeated the thoughts, over and over, until the burning in his eyes went away, until his lungs stopped feeling so tight and the fear had gone from heavy waves washing over him to a gentle lull.

It was soon replaced by a crushing guilt, even though he knew he was in the right. Gavin wouldn't have put up with being left alone - though, really, Gavin wouldn't need a detail in the first place. Maybe he shouldn't have gone off on Jakob - he hadn't actually done anything wrong. Aleks had been the one with the knife.

He didn't pull his hands from his face when the car door opened and someone got in the back with him, only flinched a little at the slam of it closing.

They set in the quiet for a few minutes, a gap between them, and Aleks waited for the clipped order to start the car or even for the silence to settle in for however long the ride was going to be. There was a burning pit of humiliation in his stomach - that he'd lost his temper, that he’d been so scared, that he’d attacked Jakob and yelled about it like a child. They shouldn't have left him alone, but he hadn't needed to lose his shit about it, either.

The quiet didn’t last, though.

“Hey,” James said, and it was quiet and a little awkward. “Look, um. I fucked up. I’m sorry.”

Aleks rubbed at his eyes with his palms, chest tight with guilt. Was it weak to apologize? Or should he go overboard with apologies to make up for being an ass and possibly risking James looking out for him? Should he be real? Was it safer to try to get back into his good graces? _Fuck_ , he didn’t know what to do. He was foggy and tired and upset, and he was out of his element.

But he was a Free, and a Fake. Gavin would be disappointed in him if he saw how Aleks was acting, especially that temper tantrum. He’d taught Aleks better, and Aleks _did_ know better.

“I’m, um,” He dropped his hands, set up straight and glanced out of the window so he wouldn’t have to make eye contact with James, “I’m sorry for...overreacting. And for almost stabbing Jakob.”

“He scared you,” James replied, “And you were, you know, you were right to be scared. It was a really stupid thing to leave you alone on the plane. I let my guard down and put you in danger. I understand if you’re pissed.”

“I’m not,” Aleks swallowed, shifted a little and crossed his arms, “Just. Tired. That’s all. I panicked, it was really unprofessional.”

“You’re being hunted down by a crazy guy, dude,” James laughed a little, “You’re allowed to panic.”

Aleks twisted his lips, pressed his mouth closed tight for a second. James didn’t understand - how could he? Aleks had so much riding on his shoulders; his reputation, _Gavin’s_ reputation, the Fakes’ expectations. He was acting like a kid just because he was in a little danger; all his training, his skills, the things he knew - he could take care of himself, as long as he kept his head about him.

When he didn’t say anything, James sighed and reached out to carefully touch his knee. Aleks exhaled, looked at his hand and then followed his arm to his face because James at least deserved some fucking eye contact if Aleks was gonna apologize.

“It’s okay.” James said when Aleks met his eye, and he looked genuine, “Let’s just. Let’s just say we both fucked up and move past it. It’s early, you’re drugged up, we’re in a...stressful situation. Jakob’s _actually_ been stabbed before, this is nothing. Okay?”

Aleks hesitated for a second, thinking about it, and then slowly nodded. He could do that. “Yeah, um. Okay.”

“Now, let’s just get to the goddamn house and everyone can get some sleep.” James knocked on the window and the driver’s side door opened so Asher could plop down.

“One way ticket to the suburbs of Denver, all aboard.” He slammed his door shut, turned the ignition, and then flew backwards so fast Aleks threw his arms out to catch himself at the same time James did. They smashed arms but didn’t have time to do anything but cling to each other and the seat as Asher revved the engine, threw the SUV into drive, and sped out of the airfield.

“Jesus _Christ_ , Asher!” James yelled, a protective arm thrown in front of Aleks. Aleks gripped his shoulder tight, held the grip above the door and tried not to remember the terrifying drive from when James had stolen his car.

“Hold on tight!” Asher said cheerfully, and they both did.

-

 

The house was a two-story, nice for, like, a normal person. He’d stayed in worse, for sure, and it looked like it should hold a nuclear family of four and a dog - not one of the most powerful men in Achievement City and his bodyguards.

It wasn’t exactly a shithole, but there were definite problems he picked up on after he’d stumbled out of the SUV and resisted the urge to kiss the dirt in thanks for his life. The gate to the backyard was a little off, the white of the screen and garage doors aged to a slightly yellow color.

“This is...not a normal Fake safe house.” He frowned, and James shrugged a little sheepishly.

“We didn’t pick it, dude. It’s just the address we were given in case something happened.”

“I’m gonna go pick up the other two!” Asher called from through the car window, “The jet should be parked and taken care of by now.”

“Please don’t crash the goddamn car,” James said, put out, and they both watched Asher salute and then pull out of the drive slowly. He inched his way out of the cul-de-sac, all the way to the end of the street, and then _screeched_ out of the neighborhood with a squeal of the tires.

“This,” James rubbed his face, “Is why Anna usually drives.”

Aleks cracked a smile and followed him to the front door, which James unlocked with a key from his pocket. Inside was chilly and dark, no furniture to be found in the first room to the left or the garage to the right.

“...Homey.” Aleks turned in a slow circle in the first room and then looked at James with a raised eyebrow. “What the fuck is that _smell_?”

“Look, it’s a safe house - it’s not meant to be homey. What...the fuck _is_ that smell, though?” James sniffed and continued down the narrow hall. Aleks followed closely, a little creeped out. They passed a hallway bathroom, and found themselves on tiled floor - a kitchen, with a lot of counter space and a window with the blinds draw. There was a glass door to the backyard, also covered by blinds, though there was a small table in what Aleks could only assume was the tiny dining area.

“Oh, look,” James said, a little relieved, “A couch. And a TV!”

There was, indeed, a couch - covered by a big blanket to keep the dust off, a cheap coffee table, and a mounted TV across from it. There was a fireplace against the far wall, and a little cubby thing next to it where Aleks could only assume firewood was supposed to be stacked.

James pulled the blanket off with a snap of his wrists, and Aleks was hit with a face full of dust that had him squeezing his eyes shut and coughing. He could hear James doing the same and it took him a second to clear his throat and eyes.

When he did, he wished he hadn’t.

“ _Jesus_ ,” He gaped, “Oh my _God_ ,”

“It’s…” James stared, just as dumbfounded. “I mean. It’s...it’s a couch.”

“James, someone skinned a cow and turned it into a couch.”

It was a long, wide piece of shit - cow printed, with two cow print throws to match. This. This was true horror. Everything he’d ever felt before this moment paled in comparison.

“It’s not...real.” James said with some hesitation, reached out and patted the back of it awkwardly, “Yep. Fake cow here.”

“I hope you can hear my heart literally shattering in my chest at this monstrosity.”

“Don’t be dramatic,”

“Do you even _know_ me?”

James laughed, slowly sitting in the couch and, when it didn’t immediately collapse out from under him, sunk more fully into it. “Shut the fuck up and sit down, Your Highness.”

“That’s not how you talk to royalty, dickhead,” Aleks wrinkled up his nose and went back to the sliding glass door. He pulled the blinds, opened the glass to get some fucking circulation in this place and, only after he was sure some of the dust and dank smell had a way to escape, did he, gingerly, sit on the other side of the couch.

It was, at the very least, comfortable.

“So this is where I’m staying for the next three weeks, huh?”

“Hopefully,” James agreed, tilting his head back and resting it on the couch. “No one will think to look here. Littleton, Colorado, home of the diamond boy.”

“Fuck you,” Aleks said again, but it was far less biting than it had been on the airfield.

James tilted his head to the side so he was looking at him, big brown eyes and a slight smirk. “Maybe later, if you’re good.”

“I’m always good.” Aleks fluttered his eyelashes and James laughed again, shoved at his knee and stood up.

“Come on, loser. Let’s check out the upstairs, see if your pretty ass is sleeping on the floor like the rest of us.”

“First off, my ass _is_ pretty. Second, if there is not a bed upstairs, one of you is going out to _buy me one_.”

“Sure, princess,” James agreed, but he sounded like he was just humoring him. Aleks was one hundred percent fucking serious, but he followed James anyway, back through the hall and then up the narrow staircase.

There were three more empty rooms, two carpeted and one with tile plastered with images of hardwood, rather than just...real hardwood, and a bathroom to the left. To the right was a master bedroom with a connected bathroom and, luckily, a bed. It was low; a narrow mattress with bare-bones sheets and a thin comforter, but it was a _bed_ , at least.

“Lucky you,” James frowned, “Shit, we really are gonna take turns sleeping on the couch or fuckin’ roughing it on the floor.”

“The bed warming offer is still open,” Aleks singsonged, nearly skipping over to the bed to smugly drop his bag on it.

“I’m not prostituting myself for a mattress,”

“Your loss!” Aleks kicked off his shoes and unbuttoned his slacks so he could shove them down and then crawl into the bed.

“Christ,” James laughed again, “You’ve been sleeping for hours.”

“And now I’m gonna sleep for more,” Aleks got under the sheets and pulled them up to his shoulders, snuggled down into the pillows and patted the spot next to him, “Unless you wanna join me.”

“Your refractory period is concerning.” James rolled his eyes, but he did come over to the bed and sit on the edge, on top of the blankets. “Sleep off the rest of the pills, Aleksandr.”

“What are you doing?” Aleks gave him a suspicious look, pulling a pillow to his chest.

“Learning from my mistakes, Jesus, go to sleep,” James didn’t look at him, just pulled his phone out and kicked his feet up on the bed, back against the wall. He stared intently at the screen of his phone, and Aleks tried to keep the smile off his face.

“Hm. Okay, dude. Whatever.”

“Go to _sleep_.”

Aleks hid his grin in his pillow, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep.

-

The safe house was...safe. There were no more close calls, no squealing tires in the night once Asher returned with the other two. James wouldn’t let him out of the house, though, so Aleks spent the first day sleeping off the jet lag. James had been there when he’d woken up the first time, much to Aleks’ relief, but he didn’t stay with Aleks for the night and after two nightmares in a row, Aleks was actually kind of grateful for that. Aleks wasn’t exactly sure what the lot of them did, because he was fucking tired and hadn’t got out of bed aside from the bathroom and to eat some of the pizza they ordered for dinner. On the second day, James and Jakob went into the city to get some supplies and Anna and Asher were...mildly nauseating with the sexual tension so Aleks spent most of the day exploring the house. The basement was kind of creepy, and there was a crawl space that Aleks found while he was poking around the shadowed corners that he thought about hiding in just to make James hunt him down, but he decided against it in the interested of avoiding being yelled at.

The first floor didn’t hold many secrets; there was the firewood hole and the gross smell that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at all, the weirdly placed closet and the thermostat at fucking foot level, the empty garage and the overgrown backyard. Aleks was pretty sure there was possibly a jungle-esque ecosystem toward the fence line because the weeds and bushes were so high, nearly overtaking the actual goddamn trees in the yard. Aleks had never had trees in a yard before, outside of TV. Big cities like Achievement City didn’t really have the space for landscaping like that - they were _concrete_ jungles, not...actual jungles.

The second floor also wasn’t hiding anything of particular interest. He learned that if he dropped water through the vent in the upstairs guest bathroom, it leaked a little into the living room - and he learned that when he did it and got yelled at from the bottom of the stairs by Anna - and that the other rooms weren’t _completely_ empty. There was a blow-up mattress in the fake-hardwood floor that they must have brought up yesterday with two thin pillows and two hardy blankets and a few patched up holes here and there, and a small set up with a password-protected laptop and a few small machines he recognized as signal scramblers, even if they weren’t turned on. He left the set up alone for the day, and explored the attic for an hour or two, which held a bunch of random, useless shit that kept his interest for minutes at a time before he switched to a different thing.

James and Jakob came back around dusk, laden down with food and a few boxes. Aleks had been doing his level best to avoid Jakob, but he still watched from the window in his room, as the SUV pulled into the drive and they both got out and started unloading. At one point, Jakob stopped by James’ side to say something and James must have responded because Jakob nodded, but they were both facing away and Aleks couldn’t see what they were saying. James must have _known_ , though, because as Jakob walked away, he looked up toward the window. Aleks _could_ have ducked away, but he just. Stood in place, instead. Let James see him. There was a brief second where their eyes caught and the both of them kind of just...froze in a weird frame of time and space, looking at each other. James didn’t move from where he was standing, arms full of grocery bags and _things_ , and Aleks felt almost stuck where he was standing. He couldn’t move until James finally looked away, shook his head, and continued inside.

There was something about that brief moment - staring down at him in the fading light, his eyes so dark and big, not quite a smile on his face - that made Aleks...feel weird. Instead of going down stairs, he ate the cold pizza he’d left in his room and went to sleep without actually talking to anyone.

He dreamed about the streets of Los Santos, about being caught picking scraps, and woke himself up with his struggling around four in the morning. He stayed in bed but didn’t sleep for a long time, not until the sun was shining in and he could hear people walking around.

Day three brought a Godsend after two days of sleeping and exploring a suburban family home in Colorado.

“You brought me a PlayStation,” Aleks pressed a hand to his heart, wiping fake tears from his eyes; “You _do_ care!”

“I literally hate you.” James said over his shoulder, on his knees and setting up the system. He’d finally changed in the days since they got to the safe house, and he was still wearing slacks and a dress shirt - further confirming Aleks’ theory that he’d worn a shirt to his lunch with Brett just to embarrass Aleks - but he’d dropped the tie and managed to make the look casual. Aleks couldn’t exactly talk, he was back in the sweatpants now that he knew he’d be spending the rest of his life locked in this house and the others kept themselves scarce when he was around. “Look, we’re gonna be here for a while so I just went and got some goddamn entertainment, is that so fuckin’ weird?”

“I’m not complaining!” Aleks flopped onto the couch, rested his heels on the coffee table and watched James bent in front of the TV, “This place is so goddamn boring. Maybe games will help.”

“Sorry the quiet life isn’t up your alley,” James grumbled, sitting back with a huff of exertion. He’d been fucking with the thing for a while and his hair was a little frazzled, cheeks pink from checking cords and changing batteries for controllers and then getting back on the ground to re-check cords and find outlets that actually worked. Everything finally seemed...in order and, with a triumphant noise, the console turned on and James was able to push to his feet and stretch out.

Aleks slow clapped for him, pulled an impressed face when he turned to glare at him.

“I didn't see _you_ down here, motherfucker!”

“You had it handled,” Aleks said with a smile, “I wouldn't wanna get in your way.”

“Fuckin’ _insufferable_ -”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what they all say,” Aleks leaned over and snagged the plastic bag of games from the remains of the PS4 box, pulled it into his lap and thumbed through the small collection.

James pushed all of the garbage off and replaced it with himself, tucking one leg under him and reclining back.

“Sorry, I couldn't find Minecraft. You look like a Minecraft kinda guy.”

“Fuck off, okay, Ryan _made_ me,” Aleks shot him a dark glance, because he didn't talk about his Minecraft days, and realized too late his mistake.

“Oh my god, _Minecraft_!?’

“Everyone had a Minecraft phase, dickhead! It was, like, a _family_ thing so shut the fuck up!”

“No judgement here, man, no judgement,” James showed his hands in surrender but his entire face screamed that he was making fun of him in his head.

“You're a dirty fucking liar; you’re judging me right now.”

“I'm not,” James lied, “Nope, not a single judgement. Aleksandr, this is a judgement free zone.” He motioned in a circle between them, “If...if your family bonded using _Minecraft_ \- pfft -”

Aleks chucked one of the pillows at his head and James caught it against his face, laughing like an _asshole_.

“I fucking hate you, Christ, I hope your controller fucking breaks.” he buried himself back in the bag of options, forcefully dragging a few games out to look through them. His cheeks burned a little - not that he was _embarrassed,_ because he _wasn't -_

“Aw, man, that ain't nice,” James set the pillow in his lap, still too amused for Aleks’ tastes, “I wasn't laughing at you, dude, just. At the situation. Diamond a’ Los Santos, most powerful crew on the West Coast, and you play _Minecraft_.”

“I grew up _normally_ , idiot,” Aleks muttered defensively, flipping the cover of GTA V over to read the back even though he had it installed at home. “I went to school and everything, Jesus. We’re still people.”

“Normally, aside from all the money, crime, and jewels?”

“Every family has their secrets,” He cut James a long glance, “Besides, Gavin didn’t find me until I was thirteen, so don’t worry. Plenty of time for me to live in squalor with the other Plebs.”

James was quiet for a second and Aleks went back to looking at GTA V, flipped the case back over to stare intently at the cover art.

“You didn’t correct me,” James said, finally, “About calling it Los Santos.”

“Diamond of Achievement City doesn’t have the same ring to it,” Aleks tossed GTA V away carelessly and looked at the next one - dark and rainy, with some sort of origami shape - with vague interest. “Besides, you corrected yourself. You _are_ learning. Good boy!”

“You can’t just _change the name_!”

“We can,” Aleks bit back a smirk, “And we are. Is this two-player?”

“No,” James gave up on arguing about the city name, shook his head, “But you play, I’ll just watch. This’ll be good.”

“What does _that_ mean?”

“It means I don’t think you’ll be able to figure it out before it’s too late.”

“First of all, fuck you,” Aleks stood up, opening the case to get the disk out, “I will _totally_ figure it out. Second of all, go get a heating pad on your goddamn knuckles”

James pulled a face and looked down at his slightly curled hand. It was the one he’d used to protect Aleks from banging his head against the wall, and the back of his hand - mostly his knuckles - was a deep purple three days later.

“It’s fine,” James shrugged, “The bruising will die down soon. It’s already healing.”

“Hello,” Aleks finished loading the disk and stood up, turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow and his hands on his hips in disappointment - it was a stance familiar to him, that he had pretty much picked up from Jack, “My name’s Aleksandr Free, you may have heard of me, and I’m very familiar with bruises and I’m telling you that getting some heat on it will help. You may even get to, like, close your hand by the end of the day.”

“You’re so demanding,” James groused, “It’s fine, dude. What’s it even matter to you?”

“I’m ignoring that,” Aleks sniffed, “Because it was an asshole-ish thing to say and I don’t want you to feel _too much_ like shit, later, when I’m right.”

James pulled another face but Aleks ignored him and turned into the kitchen. He found a good, thick hand towel and folded it up, wet it well and squeezed the excess water out before finding a Ziploc bag and dropping the towel inside.

“You really don’t have to!” James called from the living room, but Aleks ignored him and put the bag in the microwave. He set the cook time for two minutes and, while that was going, went through the food they’d brought home until he found some ham and bread.

He made a simple sandwich while the microwave was working and then, before he could talk himself out of him, made a second. His face was hot the entire time, but he ignored it and pulled the bag out of the mic when it beeped, closed up the Ziploc and wrapped it in another towel carefully before he brought both the plate and the makeshift heating pad back into the living room.

“Here.” He held the heading pad out, refusing to look at him. When James didn’t immediately take it, he sighed loudly and shook it a little, “Seriously, just put this on your hand - Jesus, you big baby, it only lasts twenty minutes.”

“ _Insufferable_ ,” James repeated, but he took the heating pad gingerly and wrapped it around the back of his bruised up hand. Aleks set down in his spot again, dropped the plate on the seat between them and picked up one of the sandwiches to shove in his mouth before he said something stupid.

James had navigated to the loading screen while Aleks had been in the kitchen, and he switched back and forth between difficulties while Aleks finished his sandwich and then handed the controller off with a smirk.

“Okay, big shot,” James leaned back, “Have at it. Don't let some game designers show up your detective skills.”

“Shut up and eat your sandwich, fucker,” Aleks picked his difficulty and waited for the stupid game to load.

“Oh, that's so sweet,” James laughed, “You made me a heating pad _and_ a sammich? Careful, or I'll start to think you _like_ me.”

“I’d _like_ if you _died_ ,” Aleks said back and maybe his face was hot with a flush but he refused to admit it or look at him. What a fucking idiot, _ugh_. It was just a _sandwich_.

James took it, though, and Aleks started the game while he was eating, trying to ignore the glances James was giving him. Jesus. He was such an idiot, too. This is why he didn’t do _nice things_ for people.

If, by the time they got to the actual kidnapping, they were sitting a little closer together, the empty plate on the table and Aleks’ feet tucked up under James’ thigh, James leaning against Aleks’ legs a little, neither of them said anything. And if Aleks got a little bit too distracted on a few of the quick-time events because he could feel James so close, see the way he smiled or tried to look like he didn’t know what was about to happen, well. Aleks had never been the _best_ at video games, anyway.

-

He was stuck and cold and scared. He tried to pull himself out, but he couldn’t.

“Help,” He tried to say, but his mouth was filled with water. He spit it out, but was immediately pulled back under the surface and, no matter how hard he tried, couldn’t keep his mouth and throat from being filled again. He tried to kick his leg free, but his foot was _stuck_ and he couldn’t get it unwedged.

He clawed at the concrete ledge, tried to pull himself up, but he just - he couldn’t, he was stuck, he couldn’t get out -

He tried to remember where Gavin was, where the rest of the Fakes were, but - but they were gone. He was alone. He was gonna drown here, alone, forgotten, no one would care and no one would worry about him. Just like when he was a kid.

He found his grip - managed to pull himself up until his head was out of the water and then suddenly there was a weight around his throat, pulling him back down.

It was the locket.

He lost his grip on the concrete, fingers scraping as he was dragged deeper and deeper into the water. He reached for his throat, but couldn’t get under the chain because it was so deeply embedded into the skin of his neck.

Water flooded through his nose, filled his head, and he opened his mouth, desperate for _air,_ but the locket wouldn’t come off.

His vision started to go dark, cloudy, and he gave up on the locket and tried to desperately reach for the ledge. His chest ached, his lungs filled with freezing water -

He felt the life draining out of him, felt his body getting weaker as the last of the light faded. He was left alone in the dark, drowning and terrified, and there was a brief moment when he was certain he was going to spend the rest of eternity being tortured.

He opened his eyes. Stared at the ceiling above him, chest heaving, sweat dripping and pooling in the dips of his body.

Hands shaking, he brought his fingers to the chain of his locket and ran the pads along the links. The metal was hot with body heat, a little tight but nowhere near suffocating.

He set up, propped his elbows on his knees and pressed his face into his hands with a big, shuddering exhale. The sweat on his body cooled rapidly, made him shiver as a single, icy drop slid down his spine. Fuck. _Fuck_. He needed Mishka. He couldn’t keep doing this.

“No more Rated M games, huh?”

“ _Holy shit_!” Aleks shot up straight, hand automatically going for the knife under his pillow even as he glared into the dark of the room.

The street lights were enough that, after a second, he could make out the shape of a man - and, when his brain was done screaming _danger danger danger_ , he didn’t have much trouble placing that fucking voice.

“What the _fuck_ is wrong with you!? It’s -" he looked around and, unable to find a time telling device, snapped, “The middle of the night! Why are you just standing in the doorway!?”

“I heard you making noise.” James said, shrugging. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, “Thought maybe someone had broken in or something.”

“Hardy har,” Aleks pulled one leg up to his chest, used it to rest his elbow again so he could rub his face without wasting the energy of holding his arms up. “I'm fine. You can go.”

“Yeah,” James came deeper into the room, stopping at the edge of the stripped square of light on the floor from the open blinds. He wasn’t in his usual slacks and shirt - he was wearing flannels and a tank, hair down, gun in hand. “That’s not gonna happen until I sweep the room.”

Aleks...wasn’t sure why the gun made him feel safer, but his heart did start to slow.

“No one’s broken in,” Aleks took a deep, deep breath, confirmed that there wasn’t water in his lungs, “But, please, feel free to take a spin around my eleven-by-eleven bedroom and the closet-sized bathroom.”

“At least it’s a bedroom,” James pulled a face at him but did go to check out the bathroom. Aleks let him, watching him methodically check the room. It was calming, the serious look on James’ face. It was fucking obvious that no one was in the room, that it was just Aleks being an idiot, and James wasn’t stupid. But he was taking it seriously, and having the confirmation that the room really _was_ safe made his chest loosen a little more as time went on.

It was only a few minutes, in all, but it did a lot to calm his nerves. James went to the window last to take a look outside, pulling the blinds down just a little and watching for a couple seconds longer before letting them snap back into place.

“Seems clear.”

“Gee,” Aleks rubbed his eyes hard and pulled his other leg up so he could cross them in front of him, “Thanks. However could I thank you, brave sir?”

“By not being a smart ass,” James sighed and set on the edge of the bed, resting the gun on the table.

“What are you doing?”

“I've been sleeping on a blow up mattress and a couch for three days and my back is fuckin’ killing me, so I'm _sitting_.”

“Oh.” Aleks looked at his hands, gripping his ankles through the bedding. They were all sleeping on an air mattress and a couch, when he had a bed that he wasted every night because he wasn't even sleeping.

James let the silence go for a few seconds and then turned so he was facing Aleks, frowning, “Where's the hot comeback?”

“Um,” Aleks twisted his fingers in the blankets, “Look, man, it’s...it’s late. And I’m not really in the mood for the whole verbal sparring thing.”

“Christ,” James frowned a little harder, “Nightmare really shook you up, huh?”

“I’m fine.” Aleks wrinkled his brows together, refused to look up at him. The room was so dark, and they were both speaking so softly; it felt like a trap and like security all at once. He didn’t know how to say that he was afraid to piss James off in case it made him leave. He didn’t know if he could handle being alone just yet. “I just. You know. I’m used to Mishka with me. Chronic nightmares, or some shit, I dunno. Maybe the house is haunted.”

“The house isn’t _haunted_ ,” James scoffed at him and Aleks just shrugged.

They set in the quiet again, James watching him and Aleks steadily growing more and more tense - and then James grumbled something and stood up.

“Don’t move,” He said firmly and then left the room. He didn’t close the door behind him, so Aleks could only assume he was coming back. He was proved right when, not even a minute later, James returned and shut the door behind him.

He got back on the bed, properly climbed up so he was sitting next to Aleks, so close that they were pressed together, and revealed the dim screen of his phone, his photos gallery open.

“Joe sent these earlier,” He explained, “I was gonna just show you in the morning, but I guess three a.m. works, too.”

He tilted the screen a little so Aleks could get a better look. Aleks peered down and was met with his dog’s smiling face. She was in a park, her head resting on top of another dog’s - a Corgi with huge eyes and a bandana around its neck.

His heart _ached_ for her, but he ignored that feeling. He carefully took the phone and swiped to the next picture - this one a shot of she and the Corgi running around together in a lush backyard.

“Is this Joe’s dog?”

James cleared his throat a little and Aleks glanced up to see that he was looking at the pictures, too, with a bit of a wistful look on his face, “No. She’s, uh. She’s mine. Ein.”

Oh.

Aleks looked back down at the screen again, smiling a little at the next one; a shot of Mishka and Ein sleeping together on a bed, red sheets crumpled under them.

“Ein? Oh my God, did you name your Corgi after an anime?”

“Do _not_ even start. What the fuck is a _Mishka_?”

“It’s _Russian_ , you uncultured fuck. For bear.”

“ _I’m_ getting shit for naming her after a classic character from one of the most popular shows of all time but you name your bouncing ball of fur ‘bear’ in another language and think you have a leg to stand on?”

“No, James, this,” Aleks motioned between them, “No judgement zone, remember? No judgement, even if you’re a fucking Weeb.”

“I’m never showing you pictures again. It’s three in the morning and my back is one sharp movement away from breaking but I was being _the nicest person ever_ and making you feel better and you _throw it in my face_.”

Aleks tried not to laugh and, failing that, pressed a hand to his mouth to muffle it while James glared at him.

He swiped to the last picture while he was still trying to control his laughter and it finally died down when he realized it was a video. Their little argument ended, too, while he hesitated with his thumb over the play button.

“Have you watched it yet?”

“Most of it,” James shrugged a little, and Aleks tapped the play button in response.

“Einy!” Joe’s voice said over the speaker, the camera focused on Ein in the same backyard as the last few photos were in, “Einy, say hi to daddy!”

Ein barked, her whole body wiggling in excitement, and then she darted off in a fast sprint. The camera followed her, Joe laughing as it did, until she stopped in front of Mishka, who had been sniffing something in the grass.

“Mishka!” the camera zoomed in on her, her tail wagging so hard it was just a blur, “Tell Aleks that you’re okay so he doesn’t kill me!”

She didn’t bark, but she was panting and her eyes were bright, her ears perked as she listened to Joe. Ein caught her attention, though, and the camera followed them as they chased each other through the grass, stopping to roll in small patches of dirt and flowers before jumping back up to run again.

The video ended suddenly, the last frame a blur of green, and Aleks nearly replayed it but stopped himself. It was enough, for now. She was okay, she was happy, and he had pictures to prove it.

James was warm next to him and Aleks realized that, at some point, he’d started to lean against him while they’d been looking at the pictures.

“Do you,” He set up a little so that James wasn’t taking his weight anymore, a little flustered, “Do you miss her? Ein?”

“Fuck yeah,” James accepted his phone back and slid to one of the pictures, the one with Ein mid-wiggle, “Most of my jobs don’t run this long, but I have to leave her home pretty often. She sees Joe more than she sees me, at this rate.”

“That’s…” Aleks searched for something to say, but came up short. All he had was a sympathetic “Shit, man, that sucks.”

James laughed, quiet, and bumped their shoulders together, “Yeah, thanks, man. You sure know how to make a guy feel better.”

“Excuse you,” Aleks grumbled, bumping him back, “Words aren’t my usual comfort so I dunno what to tell you.”

“Yeah?” James looked at him and raised his eyebrows, smirking a little, “What’s your usual method?”

Aleks’ cheeks went hot and he slid his eyes away from him and back to the phone, “Don’t twist my words, fucker. I mean, I take after Gavin. But there isn’t exactly a nice place to buy from around here, so you’re stuck with some Zuko-level comforting here.”

“ _Zuko_ ,” James said with feeling and Aleks resisted the urge to literally punch him in the face.

He groaned in annoyance, “Leave, get out. I’m being so, like, _open_ , right now, and you’re just throwing it in my face.”

“Judgement free zone, dude,”

“You can take your judgement free zone and -” Aleks started, turning to glare at him. He would have continued, told James right where he could shove it, but James was a _lot_ closer than expected - and he slipped a hand along Aleks’ jaw, cupped the side of his face, and then he was kissing him and Aleks didn’t really know what was going on but his chest was warm and he inhaled hard through his nose and kissed back before he could think about it.

James kissed him like he thought Aleks was gonna disappear, deep and not quite rough but plenty demanding. Aleks brought his hands up and buried them in the ringlets of his hair, sighed into the kiss when he felt James’ fingers on his hips, tugging insistently. He went willingly where they led without hesitation.

James got him to throw a leg over his so he was settled in James’ lap, just in his boxer briefs while, once again, James was fully dressed. Aleks would try to fix that later; for now he just let himself be kissed. James dropped an arm around his waist, hugged him close so they were flush together, his beard rough and almost ticklish as he kissed him. He dropped the hand from Aleks’ jaw and dragged it down to his shoulder, around until he was pressing it to the back of his neck, combing the tips of his fingers against the faded edges of Aleks’ hair, where he’d had everything shaved close. It prickled, made him break the kiss with a gasp, and James trailed his lips from his down to the joint of his jaw, to his neck and then his shoulder, and Aleks tilted his head so he was looking at the ceiling through silted eyes again and let him.

“It’s real fucked up,” James finally said, low and gravely and nearly annoyed, “That you can be such a nerd and still, somehow, make me want to kiss you.”

“Maybe you’re just desperate,” Aleks offered, laughing a little at the offended sound James made against his shoulder.

He leaned up and kissed Aleks again, open and slow and, fuck, intense, and even as it stole his breath, it made Aleks feel safe. James wasn’t going to leave him alone; he hadn’t left him alone since he brought him back from Brett’s party. And maybe it was just Aleks’ _issues_ or that he was feeling vulnerable, but James had...gone out of his way, a _lot_ , to make Aleks comfortable, to entertain him and make him feel safe. Jesus, he’d just swept a literally square room with nothing but a bed in it because Aleks had had a nightmare. There was a gun on the table next to them because James was taking keeping him safe so seriously.

No one he’d slept with before had...really done that. Taken Aleks seriously when he was upset or uncomfortable. He’d set and looked at _pictures of dogs_ with Aleks at three in the morning just to calm him down.

And yeah, okay, maybe it made him easy - but he didn’t know how to say _thank you_ , didn’t know what else to do with all the _stuff_ building up in his chest. James was kissing him - the first time _James_ had started the advances - and he was holding him so close, close enough that he could feel how hard James’ heart was beating against his own chest.

He finally felt warm.

When James shifted under him, slowly turned them over so he was on top and Aleks was mostly flat on the bed aside from the arm James still had around his waist, keeping them pressed close together, he went easily. He spread his legs for James to settle between, held him close by his hair and his shoulder, kissed back as hard as he was being kissed.

James rolled his hips, slow and careful, and Aleks had to draw his brows together against the feeling. His toes were already curling a little, one leg hooked behind James’, and he used the leverage to grind up against him through their clothes, two layers of cotton between them.

“Can I?” James broke the kiss to ask, fingers resting at the waist of his boxers.

Aleks nodded, wordless, arched his hips to help when James leaned back to pull them off. They struggled for a second but managed to get them off all the way, and then James just set back and looked at him.

Aleks was...not self-conscious about his body, usually, but something about James looking down at him made him feel ripped open, like James was gonna see every weird, unpleasant thing about him that there was and leave or something.

Instead, James pressed a hand against the tattoo on his chest carefully, framing his locket with his fingers, and slowly slid his warm palm downward. Aleks closed his eyes, followed the feeling with his senses, let his arms rest above his head while James touched him.

“ _Fuck_ , I hate you. This is so fucking unfair. This is _bullshit_.” James muttered and it made Aleks smile. Somehow, those all sounded like compliments. “Don’t _smile_ , you asshole. I’m so fucking mad. My team is going to fucking _skin me_ and all I can think about is touching you.”

“Stop thinking about it and _do it_ then, idiot. A little late for regrets, isn’t it?”

“The worst part is I don’t think I’m gonna regret it,” He said like it was being dragged out of him, his other hand joining the palm he had pressed against Aleks’ belly, framing his navel now.

“I was thinking of getting that pierced,” Aleks said casually and grinned when James had to close his eyes. “Think it’d look good?”

“Stop talking.” James ordered, “You aren’t allowed to talk anymore. Enough.”

Aleks hummed in response, smug, “I don’t think that’s what you want me to do, but, you know. If you _really_ want me to stop, you could always keep my mouth busy.”

“What kind of fucking porn lines…” James said under his breath, but Aleks got his way and he leaned down, supported himself with a hand by Aleks head and kissed him again. Aleks went along happily, pulling at his tank until James let him yank it off.

Yeah...Yeah, okay, it definitely wasn’t Mishka, but. Aleks could get used to this.

He didn’t have another nightmare.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO FRIENDS I AM SO SORRY THAT THIS IS LITERALLY A MONTH LATER PLEASE FORGIVE ME AND ALSO BE AWARE THAT PROBABLY THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL TAKE ABOUT A MONTH TO POST ;U; COLLEGE IS HARD AND KICKING MY ASS AND ALSO DEPRESSION:TM: BUT
> 
> IM TRYIN MY BEST  
> TWO CHAPTERS LEFT AFTER THIS AND THEYRE BOTH GONNA BE FUN I THINK LETS HOPE!!!!!
> 
> as always please check out kenn (allrighthello) and the other ppl linked in past chapters on tumblr (and ao3 in the case of phoe and gina/myriadus)!!!! also also please check out [JESS](http://loveyboyslovin.tumblr.com/) as well!! she was so kind as to beta this for me in the middle of the day while i was frantically trying to finish it. 
> 
> that said, this is the chapter i was most looking forward to writing. i hope you guys enjoy it (and pls dont kill me <3)

Aleks had met Brett when he was seventeen, through Gavin. It had started as a business relationship, at first, just because Aleks at seventeen hadn't been too entirely different from Aleks at twelve in that he’d thought every stranger was a challenge to be crushed before they could betray him or hurt his new family. But Brett, as Aleks had learned, was...probably the closest thing to a best friend Aleks would ever have. He didn’t put up with Aleks’ shit, but he didn’t look down on Aleks for being younger and, more often than not, went along with whatever scheme Aleks was cooking up.

Brett had taken him out to lunch for his eighteenth birthday, and it had sort of become a tradition to meet up for lunch every week. Aleks had never missed one before; they even video chatted from different places if one of them was out of town. But he missed it this week. And he’d missed it last week, too, and it was stupid, but he woke up that morning wondering if Brett had forgotten about him yet.

He’d met Trevor over a year ago, and they usually talked at least every other day, if not every day. He hadn’t spoken to him since Brett’s party and that felt like years ago at this point. Maybe Trevor had forgotten about him, too.

He hadn’t talked to any of the Fakes in almost three weeks. He wondered if they liked that.

“You’re sucking even harder than usual,” James said around noon, after Aleks had died three times in a row at the same spot he’d managed to pass yesterday. Aleks had spent more time on the goddamn couch than he had in the bed upstairs in the last two weeks, and they’d worked through every game James and Jakob had brought home except Dark Souls. They’d left that one alone when they realized that it would only cost whatever small bit of friendship had bloomed between them to continue playing it. Maybe they’d try it again before Aleks went home, on the off chance that they did try to actually kill each other over dragon battle tactics.

“Gee, thanks. Asshole.”

“Just sayin’, man, calm down,”

“I’m just - not in the mood.” he set the controller down, standing up and stretching up until his arms and back cracked, “God, I’m so sick of this.”

“We’ve got different games,” James offered, because he was dense as a goddamn brick.

“No, Jesus, I meant I’m sick of this _house_. I need to get out of here, go _do_ something.”

“Aleks, we’ve been over this,” James set his controller down, too, “You can’t -”

“Leave, I _know_ ,” Aleks snapped and ran a hand through his hair. “You know, sometimes hamsters will groom themselves to the point of injury if their environments are too small.”

“Are you comparing yourself to a hamster?”

“I’m _saying_ ,” Aleks turned to glare at him, “That I’m _going crazy_ in this goddamn _house_. There’s not gonna be anything left to take back home if I don’t _do_ something.”

“Look,” James said and Aleks could recognize it at this point as his _Aleks is overreacting_ voice, “Let’s just go for a walk around the backyard. Maybe you just need some fresh air.”

“I _need_ some fresh scenery. Can’t we just - Christ, I’ll take a _park_. Can we go to a _park_ or something?”

“Aleks,” James repeated his name, a little more annoyed, “You can’t _leave_. Someone could recognize you, even as far away as Colorado. Even in a park.”

“This is so fucking _stupid_!”

“We can’t leave either, dude, it’s not just you,”

“Not,” Aleks shook his arms out to get rid of the excess energy, “Helping.”

“Just - calm down. Go eat something, chill out, take a nap.” James tried to soothe, “We’ve been here for a while, it’s just cabin fever.”

“There’s nothing to eat but take out, dude, we ran out of real food.” Aleks pointed emphatically at the kitchen, “I’ve had pizza, Chinese, and fast food delivery for _two weeks in a row_. If I don’t eat something real, I’m going to fuckin’ - _God_ , I just need to get out of here -”

“Seriously, don’t make me lock you in your room, Aleks; I don’t want to have to do that.”

“You think you _can_!?”

“Aleks -”

“Fuck you, James! I’m not a prisoner, and I’ll goddamn leave if I want to!”

James, obviously trying to stay calm, pressed his lips together tight and frowned at him, but he didn’t say anything back and that, somehow, was more infuriating than if he’d snapped another threat at him.

It made Aleks feel like he was overreacting. Like he was being _unreasonable_. He hadn’t even _done anything_. Gavin had stolen the fucking ring, _Law_ was the one with a stick up his ass about it - all Aleks had done was agree to hold onto it. No one even knew he had it! He just - fuck, he just wanted an hour outside of this smelly house in some suburb of a state he didn’t want to be in. He wanted to go _home_.

“Fuck you,” he repeated, just to - make a _point_ , and then he turned and left the room. James followed him, he heard him, but he stopped when Aleks just went up the stairs instead of out of the door.

“I will _hurl myself_ out of the window if you lock this damn door and don’t think I fucking won’t,” he snapped into the hallway as a whole before he slammed the door shut. And then he collapsed into the bed, pulled a pillow over his face, and _yelled_ until he was exhausted.

He just wanted to go home. Or to a gas station. Something that wasn’t this _house_.

-

Maybe it was childish - he knew it was - but he didn’t come back out for the rest of the day. Some of it was just because he was pissed as hell, especially at James’ threat to lock him in his room like he was fucking Rapunzel, but there was a small part of him that also just didn’t want to show his face. He knew that the others couldn’t exactly leave either, because of him, and he still had trouble meeting Jakob’s eye after that fight on the airfield. He just kept showing his ass, here.

Gavin would be disappointed that he was putting so much stock in their opinions, but Aleks was a fucking being of validation and he was _alone_ and he just...missed his life and his family.

He slept, for the most part, and ignored it when his stomach started to growl. He was serious about the damn take out, he wasn’t gonna be able to stomach much more of it before he lost it. He was starting to break out from all of the grease.

He went in and out of sleep, not quite plagued by nightmares but knowing that they would come, eventually. James had spent the night in his bed often enough that it hadn’t been much of a problem but, somehow, he didn’t think that would be the case tonight. He tossed and he turned after waking up from his nap before finally getting up to think of something to appease his stomach. Hunger was one of the worst feelings and he really didn’t want to deal with _those_ nightmares, if he was gonna have one.

When he carefully opened the door to the hallway to see if anyone was there, he was met with just the darkness of a windowless area. The other doors were closed, the house silent except for the sound of the television downstairs. He crept out, quiet, and carefully shut his door behind him, froze with his hands on the knob to listen. Nothing alerted him that anyone suspected he was leaving his room so he let go of the door and then faced his second task - the stairs. They were fucking old and creaky and he hadn’t taken much time to really memorize them. He only knew that they were creaky because he heard them every night, even when no one was on them. If he was careful, anyone listening wouldn’t even realize that it wasn’t just the wood just resettling.

He skipped every other stair, rested his weight slow and careful along the very sides of each step and tried to balance himself out before he actually stepped down. It took him a few minutes and he probably looked ridiculous doing it, but he reached the bottom with relative quiet and no one had come to check on him. He’d paused at the bannister to check the area before he’d finished his adventure of silent stair stepping and the coast was still just as clear as it had been a minute earlier. The house was dark, the sun having set at some point while he napped, and the only light at all was leaking out from the TV running in the living room. He went the long way into the kitchen, hoping to snatch a bag of chips off the counter or something, but realized the living room was empty as soon as he looked into the kitchen. He could hear vague conversation from the basement, a voice he was pretty sure was James and another guy - Asher, if he had to guess.

“Christ,” he rubbed his face, standing up from his stooped position and walking in with an annoyed confidence. There was a bag of carrots in the door of the fridge when he opened it and he wasn’t even particularly fond of carrots but he’d never seen anything that looked so good before. Real fucking food. He grabbed them, shut the door of the fridge and was in the hallway leading to the stairs when the basement door blew open with enough force to make him jump. Faced with the prospect of being caught with food after his loud refusal earlier, he dove into the dark bathroom without even thinking about it, ducking behind the door and clutching his carrots to his chest like they were gonna somehow make him fucking invisible.

“Seriously, dude, will you shut up and listen!?”

“This is _my_ team. If you have a problem with how I’m running this op then you can shove it right up your -”

“Christ, drop the defensive act! I’m saying that you’re acting a little compromised here!”

“Keep your voice down, asshole; are you tryin’ to bring the whole damn house down?”

“Anna got _shot_. Jakob had to fly a plane for the first time, we’re on constant look out because they’re gonna _kill us_ if we’re found and you’re _sleeping with our mark_!”

“Don’t call him a _mark_ ,” James responded, so fast that it was sharp, “He isn’t a _mark_ -”

“You _are_ running this op but you’re running it straight between Free’s legs while we’re getting hurt!”

“You knew the risks when you signed up.”

“Yeah, well, are you gonna be able to say that to my face if you being _sloppy_ gets Jakob killed? He’s only eighteen! It was your call to involve him with the Fakes on his first run! Our risks were getting caught between Law and the Fakes, but you getting attached wasn’t on the list.”

“Asher,” James said, and he sounded more dangerous than Aleks had ever heard, “We have done a lot of jobs together, and I respect you. But say one more goddamn word, and I’m gonna put my fist through your teeth.”

And maybe Asher could hear the same truth in his words that Aleks could because the hallway went quiet. Aleks wasn’t breathing at all, staring at the dark wood of the bathroom door, praying the crinkle of the plastic bag wouldn’t give him away. The silence stretched for a long time. Aleks didn’t move. He didn’t move at all, barely inhaled. He didn’t know why he was hiding, just that something told him that he wasn’t gonna like would happen if he didn’t.

James was the one to speak again, like he’d been giving Asher the chance to test him, and he sounded calmer when he said, “I don’t regret putting Jakob on this job. I know what I’m doing. If you have a problem with that, there’s the fucking door. I don’t appreciate you telling me how to do my job and if _you_ , of all people, want to talk about being unprofessional while on a job - well. You don’t have the moral high ground, here, man. If _Anna_ has a complaint about getting shot while _on the job_ , she can come talk to me herself but I don’t think she’d be impressed with you cornering me while I’m trying to lock up the fucking safe house.”

“Just look me in the face," Asher ground out, “And tell me you aren't in over your head. Are you gonna be able to go through with this?”

“We are going to finish this job.” James said with such conviction that it made Aleks a little lightheaded. “I don’t have to prove anything to you; I don’t have to _declare my intent_ to you. Your job is to listen to goddamn orders. That’s why you’re getting paid - not to question me or what _I’m_ doing. Get out of my face and go upstairs and do your damn job.”

“ _Damn it_ , James!” Asher hissed, but Aleks heard him stomping around, going toward the stairs, “Fuck you and your fucking high horse. You think you’re so above everything but it’s gonna blow up in your face and I hope you’ve got your dick back in your pants when it does, at least!”

“That’s rich coming from you, Ash. Or have you forgotten Italy? How’s the gunshot treating you?” James snapped back but he didn’t follow him. Aleks heard Asher going up the stairs, heavy steps and a forceful opening and closing of one of the doors. James’ breathing was heavy, if otherwise normal, but Aleks still didn’t move. He wasn’t sure if he should reveal himself or not.

James...hadn’t said he wasn’t attached. Maybe that was just because he hadn’t wanted to give into Asher’s demands, but...still. He hadn’t said it.

He heard James inhale deep, hold, and then exhale for a few seconds longer than what would be natural. He heard him walk out of the hallway, back toward the living room, and then he heard him collapse into the couch with a quiet huff.

Aleks hadn’t seen him since that morning, but he’d been yelling at him for a good amount of the time he had been with him. And so, apparently, was his team. James, perhaps, was not the most popular guy in the house.

A few weeks ago, that probably would have made Aleks smug as fuck but, now, it just kind of made him feel guiltier than before. Somehow, Aleks had alienated Jakob _and_ Asher. And he’d got Anna shot. Something about only having one ally in the house, if he could even call James that after this morning, made his stomach tight. He was in a bad position right now, and he’d probably pissed his only support of by complaining so much.

He needed to fix this. For his own security but, maybe, also because he...wasn’t exactly unattached, either. James had stayed with him nearly every night since he’d first come in. Usually to show him the pictures Joe faithfully sent every day, and once or twice to bring him dinner when Jakob had been downstairs and Aleks hadn’t wanted to deal with the sniping comments, and yeah, maybe they had sex but...James didn’t _have_ to stay. He woke up early and snuck out just so the others wouldn’t see, when it would be infinitely easier for him if he just left immediately after. Shit, there had been a few nights where they _hadn’t_ had sex and he’d still stuck around. And the others had seemed perfectly content with the nightly pizza - they’d started the Chinese takeout train because Aleks had complained.

He was being _accommodated_ , probably totally by James, and it left a bitter taste in his mouth to know he was in the wrong but it would be even worse if he somehow turned James against him when James’ _team_ was also coming at him for how he was treating Aleks.

He left the carrots on the bathroom counter - he doubted he’d be able to stand eating any of them now.

James had shut the basement door and the blinds of the sliding glass door and reruns of an old sitcom Aleks had never watched were the only thing lighting up the living room now. James was sitting on the couch; legs kicked up and stretched along the cushions and crossed at his ankles, head tilted back so he was resting it against the back cushion. His eyes were closed, brows furrowed tight in displeasure and an unhappy tilt to his lips. The floor squeaked a little under Aleks’ weight and James’ eyes opened when he lifted his head to look at him. He just frowned harder when he saw him.

“Done throwing a fit? There’s stuff in the fridge. I’ll go to the store tomorrow and grab some food or something so make a list.”

Aleks shifted awkwardly, confidence just a little shaken. He didn’t really...know what to do. Just say it? This was the second time in as many weeks that James was somehow getting an apology out of him. At least he hadn’t almost stabbed someone this go around.

“Are you just gonna stand there?” James waved toward the kitchen again, “I know you haven’t eaten. I’m not fucking leaving the room, so you can fuck off if that’s what you want.”

“No,” Aleks said, twisting his hands in the hem of his shirt once before letting go and striding to the couch. James uncrossed his feet and started to sit up but Aleks just settled a knee on the couch and rested on it so he could put a hand on the back cushion for balance and lean over him.

“Aleks, what are you doing -” James started, sounding a little annoyed, but stopped talking when Aleks ducked his head and pressed their lips together in a deep kiss, mouth dropping open to let Aleks’ tongue in to line up with his. Aleks caught his bottom lip between his, sucked once before letting it go to sit back just a little bit and look at him.

“You aren’t gonna seduce me into whatever it is you want,” James warned, and the light of the television hid it but Aleks could feel the warmth of a blush radiating of his cheeks.

“I, uh. I was in the bathroom.”

“Um.” James blinked; more confused than annoyed now, “Okay?”

“No,” Aleks set back a little so he was resting on his knee, rolling his eyes, “I mean I was - I came down to get some food and I heard you guys coming out of the basement so I hid in the bathroom, Jesus,”

“You _what_!?” James set up, sounding pissed, “What did you hear? Aleksandr, that was a private conversation, what the fuck -”

“I didn’t mean to!” Aleks defended himself, wanting to stop the conversation from derailing, “But - but listen, okay, I - I get it. I get it and I’m sorry.”

“You should be, Aleks! You can’t just hide around the house and _listen_ to people -”

“No, I mean,” Aleks groaned again and, not sure what else to do, pushed James back down to the reclined position he’d been in, “Just - God, can you just let me apologize for being an asshole this morning and blow you?”

“ _What_!?”

“ _Ugh_ ,” Aleks seethed, “You make everything so fuckin’ _hard_. I get it; your team doesn’t like me. I’m a risk and I’m spoiled and I’m not happy and if I’m not happy, nobody gets to be happy, but you, you know, you go out of your way for me and I just threw that back in your face this morning so -”

“That’s what you got out of that conversation?”

“I literally hate you,” Aleks huffed and pressed a hand over James’ mouth, “Just listen to me, dude, this is hard enough already. I’m not wrong often, and I’m _especially_ not wrong enough to apologize so. Just be grateful.”

James blinked at him, back to confused, but he slowly nodded and, after a second to make sure he was serious, Aleks dropped his hand and took a deep breath to fortify his, like, soul. “You, uh. Your team is really, obviously not into me. I’ll admit it, I’m a polarizing guy, most people love me or hate me, and it’s pretty apparent where they all land and, admittedly, that’s mostly my fault. But you, shockingly, are...tolerable.”

“Gee.” James said, mocking his line from that morning, “Thanks.”

“I mean,” Aleks said, because that had come out wrong, “You, um. For someone who didn’t seem to like me much at first, you’re not the worst guy in the world. You protected me on the plane, and you watched out for me in Vegas and when we landed and you, you know, you apologized for leaving me alone. And you literally sit with me for an hour every night and show me pictures of my _dog_ , and I _yelled_ at you today over _food_ so you plan to go out when you’re being hunted to get me some fuckin’ - bread and cheese that I’ll probably hate because you’ll get the cheapest option and then I’ll complain about and you’ll roll your eyes but you’ll still show up to show me Mishka. So. Sorry. I’m sorry about this morning. I’m pissed about being here and missing my friends and my family and I took it out on you and I’m sorry.”

“It’s,” James’ forehead smoothed out, the confusion slowly leaving to be replaced with something close to a smile he was trying not to show, “It’s okay. I should have known a spoiled brat would expect more than delivery pizza every day for three weeks.”

Aleks groaned and leaned forward to kiss him again. James went with it a little easier, fit his palm against Aleks’ jaw and tilted his head a little to kiss him with more force. His lips were kinda chapped and his beard tickled but he traced the seam of Aleks’ lips with a warm tongue and Aleks didn’t even think to resist. He let James in easily, sighed and closed his eyes, tucked an arm around James’ shoulder and slipped his fingers through the hair at the back of his head. James ran a hand down his side, settled long fingers at his hip and Aleks let him.

“You keep doing that;” He said when they broke the kiss, trying to come off as annoyed, “Saying it’s okay. Making excuses. Be angry like a normal person.”

“As shocking as it may seem,” James grinned, slow and warm, “I’m not particularly angry anymore, and I’m not gonna pretend to be just to appease some weird thought you got goin’ on in your head.”

“So you _don’t_ want the blowjob?”

“I’m so fuckin pissed.” James changed his mind, “I’m so mad. I take back what I said, I’m angry as hell.”

Aleks laughed, his heart picking up speed. What the fuck. What the fuck, he wasn’t supposed to be cute, Aleks hated this.

“Okay, okay, Jesus. Just. Sit back and relax. Let me see if we can make you feel better.”

“My temper is directly tied to my dick, so,”

“Stop talking,” Aleks glanced over and then used his foot to shove the coffee table out of the way so he could settle on his knees on the ground. James went with him when he tugged at him, until he had him sitting straight and leaning back, knees to either side of Aleks. He settled his hands on his thighs, rubbed slow circles with his thumbs and smiled when he felt the bulge of his dick against one of his thighs. “Try to keep quiet, okay? The last thing we need is one of them coming down and literally catching us mid fellatio.”

James mimed zipping his mouth shut and Aleks hated him so much. He was a fucking _nerd_ and here Aleks was, about to suck him off for it.

He rolled his eyes as hard as he could at him, but he slid his hands to the button of his slacks, popped it open and then carefully slid the zipper down with one hand while he rubbed his dick through the material of his slacks. James shifted his hips, leaned his head back and breathed out slow and steady while Aleks worked his magic. He didn’t pull his slacks down, just in case someone came down the stairs, but he pulled the front flaps as much out of the way as he could and then leaned forward to press an open-mouthed kiss to him through the thin cotton of his boxers.

James arched his hips a little and Aleks took advantage of it, closed his mouth around a small bit and sucked through the cotton until he’d dampened the cloth with it. James stayed quiet, but he did look down, caught Aleks’ eyes in a dark gaze as he worked James out of his boxers and lapped his tongue from base to tip just to get a taste of him - now familiar and pleasant.

It was a look that caught him and didn’t let him go. James cupped the side of his face, palm warm, fingers rough but gentle as they curved along his jaw. He left his thumb just under Aleks' eye, glided the intimate touch of his thumb pad and Aleks couldn't help but lean into it.

They didn’t break eye contact the whole time, from the moment Aleks slipped the head of his dick between his lips to the moment James tensed his hips under Aleks’ hands and gave just enough warning for Aleks to pull off before he fucking came on his face.

Aleks did close his eyes then, just in time, though his mouth still dropped with surprise and outrage.

“Oh,” James said, laughing a little, “Oh, shit, dude, uh. Sorry.”

“James,” Aleks said, dangerous, slowly blinking one eye open because he was pretty sure James had got some across the other, “I’m going to castrate you.”

“Don’t be a bitch about it,” James chuckled again, using his thumb to wipe at Aleks’ eye, “If it helps, I’m gonna remember your bratty face covered in come for, like, the rest of my life.”

His cheeks going scarlet, Aleks scowled at him until he could open his other eye.

“Stop looking like that,” James licked his thumb clean and then fixed himself back up, zipping his pants up and tugging Aleks up so they could both stand, “Oh my god, it’s hot and then it’s funny and then it’s hot again.”

“I hate shit on my _face_ , dude! I’m not wiping come off with this shirt, James, it’s worth more than your entire wardrobe combined so get me something right now or I swear to _Christ_ -”

“Okay, okay,” James bit his lip and looked around for a second and then grabbed a hoodie off the couch that Aleks was pretty sure definitely did not belong to him and handed it over. He was still laughing when Aleks used it to clean his burning face up and that, somehow, just made Aleks’ chest warm even more.

-

“I was thinkin’,” James said later, voice soft in the quiet of the bedroom.

“Don't hurt yourself,” Aleks said without opening his eyes, grinning into his arm when James thumped his hip.

“Don't be an asshole. I was just _thinking_ about what you said earlier.”

“Which part?”

“The part about missing your friends and family.”

Aleks did open his eyes, then. Looked at James in the dark of the room, the lamplight coming through the blinds leaving thin strands of light across his back. James still had his eyes closed, laying on his crossed arms. “Your inability to understand normal human connections is concerning.”

“Shut up, I _understand_ human connections, dick. I’m just - thinking.”

Part of Aleks wanted to tease him a little more, get a rise out of him, but James’ brow was wrinkled, even though his mouth was neutral. So, instead of teasing, Aleks settled back down into the bed, close enough that their elbows touched when he lay back down on his arms, facing James. “Tell me what you’re thinking about.”

James sighed, brow relaxing a little. “‘S weird, that’s all.”

“That I miss my family?”

“That you miss your family of criminal gangsters and their crime lord boss, yes, it’s a little fuckin’ weird to me, alright?”

“Look, they aren’t - it turns off, doesn’t it? Your job?”

“I’m a -” James took a breath and let it out, “I’m a bodyguard, Aleks, not a Mafioso. You can stop protecting a target; you can’t stop being a criminal.”

“First of all,” Aleks couldn't help but smile, “The Fakes aren’t part of the mafia. They’re a crew, maybe, but they don’t answer to anyone except _maybe_ Uncle Burnie, if they’re feeling like it.”

“You make my _head_ hurt,” James muttered, sounding no less aggravated, “Michael Burns has personally set people on _fire_ and you call him your uncle.”

“He _is_ my uncle. Look,” Aleks paused, tried to put it into words, “They aren’t...evil. Burnie doesn’t just light random people on fire, he and the others - they just protect their own. Achievement City isn’t the same as a normal city. It’s kill or be killed - but with the Fakes, it doesn’t have to be like that. Look at the crime stats yourself! After Geoff took over, things got a lot safer for people on the streets in his territories. None of them...none of _us_ are good people, but.” Aleks’ lips twisted, fingers tightening around his arms, “But Gavin saw some poor street rat stealing his wallet and he could have shot him dead and not a damn soul would have cared but, instead, he took him in and the Fakes loved him and no one who could do that could be evil.”

James didn’t have anything to say to that, Aleks’ guessed, because he didn’t respond. Instead, he settled one of his palms between Aleks’ shoulders and slowly dragged it down along his spine. It was a firm touch, confidant of its welcome, and Aleks breathed out with it, arched his hips into it and blinked his eyes open to meet the look James was giving him. His eyes were dark, unreadable in the shadows, but Aleks still felt, somehow, like it suited him. James stroked along his spine for a few minutes, soothing and hypnotic and Aleks basked in the attention.

“I was in a crew, once,” James said into the quiet, and his voice was rough and so soft it was almost hard to understand. Aleks didn’t open his eyes from when they’d drifted closed, but he shifted a little closer. “I thought we were a family, too. For a while. We weren’t, though. It fell apart when we were just at our peak and none of us have looked back since. Why are you any different? How do you know they wouldn’t leave you to Law the second things got hot?”

And maybe it was supposed to be harsh, but it must have come out wrong because Aleks doubted James ever would have said it if he’d known he’d sound so vulnerable. Maybe it was the dark of the room, the intimate quiet of the space between them, the warm touches, or maybe James had just been sitting on the thought from the moment Aleks had said his family cared about him.

Those were the reasons that Aleks stayed calm, at least. Why he didn’t tell James to fuck off or shove at him. He was relaxed, and happy as could be in the situation, and he felt safe and secure with James by his side and Gavin’s locket around his neck. Instead of blowing up, he thought about his answer carefully.

He shifted, James’ hand settled in the middle of his back while he fumbled a little before unclipping the back of his earring and pulling it off to let it dangle in one of the strands of light. It sparkled and glimmered as it turned in the light, beautiful and perfect except for the smallest scratch at the bottom from when he’d hurled it into the wall as a kid. It was about an inch long and angled to a point at the bottom, the clip gold; he’d had it on him from the moment Gavin had picked it up from where he’d thrown it and said _We don’t waste a diamond, love_ with that carefree grin.

“Gav gave this to me after he found me.”

“What? Trying to buy you off?”

He laughed a little, catching the jewel with his fingers and feeling the body-warm surface of it. “That’s what I thought, at first. He offered it to me and I thought he was - trying to buy me or something so I threw it as hard as I could into the wall hoping it’d break. I’d broken plenty of fakes like that before - but this one didn’t shatter.”

“Why would he give you a fake diamond?”

“Because Gavin doesn’t give his things to people he doesn’t care about. Jack’s the philanthropist; Gavin’s the one that hoards wealth like a goddamn dragon. This was...it was his way of saying that I was for keeps, you know? I was...kind of convinced he was after something and he’d kick me out when he realized I wouldn’t be able to do whatever it was.”

James didn’t reach for the earring, just continued his slow stroking up and down Aleks’ spine, but Aleks could see him looking at it, see him thinking.

“The point, I guess, is that I can’t say we’re different, but...I know they love me. And I’m not gonna be the one to, like...run away first or whatever. I trust them. They put a lot of effort into me to just leave me when things get hot. Law’s nothing compared to what we’ve been through together.”

James hummed in response, slow and quiet. Aleks reached back to put his earring back in but, carefully, James took it from his lax fingers and set up to do it for him.

“Thanks,” He smiled a little, tilting his head to make it easier for him. When the earring was back in place, a little cool against his skin, James leaned down and pressed his lips to the spot just below it, dragged his kisses down Aleks’ neck to his shoulder, and then to between his shoulder blades where his hand had settled earlier. Aleks relaxed into the bed, closed his eyes and let James do whatever he wanted. It was...soft, almost. Definitely intimate. Two weeks ago, it may have been a little _too_ intimate but, lately, things between them had...shifted. In bed, and outside of it.

Shit. _Shit_. This was. This was not good.

He turned his face into the pillow, squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed hard at the way James’ beard scraped along his skin as he worked his way down his back with those gentle kisses. His heart was beating so hard he thought James could probably feel it through his lips.

“What about your friends?”

“My...what?” Aleks blinked, lifted his head to look over his shoulder.

“Your friends,” James repeated, glancing up to meet his eyes from where he’d been nuzzling into the base of Aleks’ spine, the promise of his mouth going a little lower not unnoticed. “You miss them?”

“You -” Aleks started, irritated, but he sighed when James only grinned, sharp and teasing, up at him. “God, you’re so nosy. _Yes_ , I miss my friends. I’ve only got the two, and I’m sure they’re both gonna kill me when I get back. Brett is probably annoyed as hell that I’ve missed our lunches, he hates when people cancel on him. This is the first time I’ve ever missed, so I was...you know, I was just pissed off about it.”

“Those lunches are boring as fuck. You two just gossip and eat _sushi_.”

“That’s what you _do_ at lunch with a friend.” Aleks snorted, wiggling when James reversed directions and started to work his scratchy kisses up his spine instead, “Besides, it might seem like gossip to you but it’s _recon_.”

“Recon about who’s sleeping with who and who’s bought the latest fashion trend out?”

“ _Yes_ , asshole. You wouldn’t understand, you pleb.”

“Oh, excuse me,” James laughed into his back, warm huffs of breath that had him shivering; “I guess my poor person brain can’t comprehend what you and your boyfriend whisper about. Too rich for me.”

Aleks reached back to swat at him, groaning in annoyance, “Brett isn’t my _boyfriend_ , for the last time. Be careful or you’ll start to sound jealous.”

“Jealous?” James scoffed, squeezing his hips just once, “He had big arms but I’m pretty sure I could take him.”

“Why do you need to take him!?” Aleks laughed, incredulous, and turned over so he was on his back. James let him and then leaned down to start kissing up his belly inside, that same slow rise. It tickled a little and he pushed at his face until James propped himself up on his chest and rested his chin on his arm to look at him with that grin. “Brett could probably snap you in half, idiot, but there’s no reason for you two to be fighting in the first place. His arms are meant for hugging, James.”

“Sure,” James said, in the same tone that someone would say _you’re an idiot_ and Aleks would bristle except James closed his eyes when Aleks sunk a hand into his hair and it kind of made Aleks’ heart skip a beat. “What about the kid? Trevor.”

“He’s my _accountant_ ,” Aleks grinned, maybe a little too fondly, “You want me to go through the list of people I’m friends with? What, are you looking for threats?”

“What’d they be threats to?” James muttered, but he opened his eyes again to look at Aleks and it was - intense, suddenly, the look in his eyes.

“I dunno.” Aleks admitted, voice low, “You tell me. You’re the one interrogating me about my friends and family.”

“Maybe it’s recon. In case someone’s betrayed you. That’s my job right now, isn’t it?”

“Something tells me you aren’t asking because of your job.” Aleks cupped his jaw, pulling him up until he could kiss him. James went willingly, supporting himself on one arm while the other crept down Aleks’ side to splay out on the bare skin just hidden by the blanket around his waist. Aleks let him, pressed their foreheads together and gasped into the space between them when James’ hand went just a bit farther down and found a home wrapped around his slowly hardening dick.

“You’re _attached_ ,” he said between kisses, slitted eyes watching James’ face furrow with concentration.

“You’re a goddamn eavesdropper.” James said in response, adjusting his grip on Aleks before starting up a smooth, slow stroking motion that had Aleks curling in just a bit. “Listening to shit you shouldn’t.”

“I’ve been called worse. Even by you.” Aleks grinned, kissed him again and then again and again as his hand worked him over. He could feel James’ heartbeat where he had his palm resting against the pulse on his neck, hummingbird fast, and it made everything - settle. James was just as into this as him, just as nervous. Just as - attached.

God, he was a fucking idiot. What a cliché, falling for the bodyguard. This wasn’t gonna end well for either of them.

James kissed him one last time and then made his way down his body again, disappearing under the blankets to replace his hand with his mouth, and Aleks tipped his head back and groaned softly in response to the feeling.

No. This wasn’t gonna end well for either of them.

-

Aleks tried to not complain so much in the following days and, in exchange, James didn’t threaten to lock him in his bedroom and had some groceries delivered to an address three blocks away and walked the bags back to the safe house.

He hadn’t, crazily enough, gone for the cheapest shit. Aleks was actually pleasantly surprised to find a few of his usual brands in the bags - his favorite store bread and some good ham and cheese from a deli instead of the packaged shit they’d brought the first time, milk and eggs and pasta, a pack of real butter. It wasn’t a feast, but Aleks could eat actual food not dripping with grease and the first bite of butter noodles was almost enough to bring him to tears.

The rest of the crew, except Anna, avoided him. He didn’t see Asher at all, but he heard his voice in the hallways at night, and Jakob was only a little more visible - mainly because he always came to the kitchen around the same time that Aleks and James were using the living room. Anna was the only one to actually look at him, though it was usually just a quick glance and a smile. Aleks wasn’t sad, he couldn’t give less of a fuck if James’ team liked him or not, but it was a tiny bit lonely. James couldn’t be with him every moment of the day - he had things he needed to do upstairs, and Aleks was often left alone in the living room, mashing buttons to the now-old video games just for something to do.

It was a bleak existence, and one that was only made brighter by the nights with James and the moments he was laughing too hard to remember he was in a safe house and hadn’t seen or heard from any of the people he cared about in over two weeks.

But the day that the Fakes were due to return was looming ever closer and it was always in the back of his mind. Six more days. Five more days. Four more days.

He woke up two days before the Fakes were set to come in - and, presumably, only a few days before he was allowed to go back home - in the best mood he’d been in since before the Fakes had left.

James noticed immediately, giving him a suspicious look when he collapsed into the couch with a bright, “Good morning!”

“Who are you and what have you done with Aleksandr?” He sniped, pulling his bent up leg a little closer to his chest to give Aleks more room. He was sitting with his back to the arm rest, resting his arm on his propped up knee while the other stayed stretched out with his foot to the ground. He’d been lounging before Aleks had joined, no doubt, his phone hanging limply from one hand as he looked him over with a raised eyebrow.

“You can be as funny as you want to be, fucker, but you aren’t gonna drag me down today. I woke up feeling great, Gavin’s coming home in two days, if he isn’t already, and that means _I’m_ going home, soon, and you can’t take that from me.”

Aleks expected James to sneer at him or say something sarcastic in response to his enthusiasm but James’ face - went blank for a second before he smiled a smile so forced Aleks wasn’t even sure he tried to mask it.

“You’re right; we probably will be heading back, soon.” He glanced around the room, up one wall, across the ceiling, down the other wall, like he was taking it all in, “This place is a shithole, but,” he paused, dropped the smile to something a little more neutral, looked back at his phone as he continued speaking, “Never mind. I’m sure you’re excited to get back home. Party with the non-plebs.”

“More like excited for my bed and my dog.” Aleks nudged him with his foot a little, and then did it again when James didn’t react enough for his tastes, “Maybe, uh. Maybe you could bring Ein over. I’m sure Mishka would like to have her and...There’s plenty of space and stuff. Yeah. Yes.”

James looked at him over the top of his phone but didn’t respond until Aleks was squirming a little. The offer had kind of - slipped out. He hadn’t meant to say it, not that he hadn’t meant it - it was just, he wasn’t...once he was back in the city with the Fakes back in place, there wouldn’t really be a need for James and his team. Law would be taken care of in a matter of days, if that, and Aleks would be free to roam as he pleased again with just the reputation of his family as all the protection he needed. There...wouldn’t be a reason for James to be at his apartment aside from personal ones.

And, yeah, Aleks could admit that he liked James - and it was plain as day that James liked him, too, but Aleks wasn’t new to the world. People like James, down to earth and normal, they didn’t fuck around with people like Aleks. Sometimes they just got jealous, sometimes they wanted more than Aleks was willing to give, sometimes they just got sick of Aleks’ shit sooner rather than later. He was a task all his own, and he knew it more than most. The sex was great - the sex was _great_ \- and James matched him step for step in conversation - sometimes he even outplayed him and Aleks had to get him back in some other way, but...that didn’t mean James would want anything to do with him when this was all over.

“A couple days ago,” James eventually said, “You were upset you missed your date.”

“Again,” Aleks sighed, ignoring the way his stomach sank at the subject change, “It isn’t a date.”

“Do you,” James continued, like he hadn’t said anything, “I mean. You wanted to leave the house, and...This will all be over, soon, so I don’t think anyone would be pissed if we - Jesus. Do you want to get out of here for a while? Get something to eat, go for a walk, something?”

“Are you,” Aleks said, a little slow because he was trying not to smile, “Are you asking me out on a date?”

He watched with growing glee as James’ cheeks went a dusty red and James scowled at him, refusing to break eye contact even as his face gave him away. It’s the furrow between his eyes that tells Aleks that James is annoyed with him because he’s _right_.

“No, it’s not a _date_ , Aleks _andr_ ; I was just asking if you wanted to leave -”

“Oh yes it is, it’s absolutely a date. You just asked me out. You wanna go on a date with me. You wanna date me and _kiss me_.”

“Are you twelve? Are you a fucking child right now?”

“Yes,” Aleks said, ignoring his cranky words, which was kind of just a thing he had to do with James sometimes, “Yes, take me on a date.”

“It’s not a _date_.”

“Sure, okay,” Aleks relented, even though it absolutely was a date, “Take me on an _outing_.”

“You’re such a fuckin’ -” James cut himself off, but he was flushed red and failing to keep his smile off his face, “Why do I even want to talk to you, you’re an _idiot_.”

“It’s my stunning good looks and the fact that I run circles around you.”

“You _try_ ,” James scoffed, then dropped his voice and glanced over Aleks’ shoulder, “Look, just. Stay quiet about it, okay? I don’t want to have to deal with Asher coming for my throat again. Tonight, around...six. Think you can tear yourself away the mirror by then?”

“Haha, you’re so funny,” Aleks wrinkled his nose up at him, “See if I put _any_ effort into looking nice for _you_.”

“Wear sweatpants and a tank, for all I care,” James grumbled, but he ducked his head a little and Aleks couldn’t stop his lips from turning up in a grin that _hurt_ with how hard it was.

They didn’t play anymore games. They were both pretty sick of their selection by this point, but Aleks managed to find a marathon of shitty horror movies on Syfy and James tossed him a pack of Pop Tarts that Aleks hadn’t even known they’d _had_ in the safe house and they just watched a few movies in quiet. Occasionally one of them would mutter something about the effects or the acting and it would spark a short conversation mostly consisting of them ribbing the movie to pieces, but for the most part it was just a quiet experience. At some point, Aleks ended up with James’ foot in his lap and he probably should have pushed him off, if only for appearances, but...it was nice. He was a _tactile person_ , and -

And he didn’t have to defend his choices to himself. He left James’ foot there because he liked the weight of his leg in his lap.

Neither of them reacted to the rest of the team coming in and out of the kitchen and it was almost fun, feeling like they were sharing a secret between them that the others didn’t know about. Aleks doubted they would have got away from the lecture if any of them knew about James’ plan to take him out, but he wasn’t going to test his theory by telling them.

He made a sandwich for lunch and, groaning, made another when James gave him a wounded look for returning with just the one. They switched channels to some sort of soap opera, because it was mid-afternoon on a weekday and the only people watching TV around this time would be housewives and soap enthusiasts, but Aleks lost interest around the third hard cut from one sad old person to another.

“Okay, fucker, I need to go, like. Shower. Get presentable.”

“So no sweatpants?”

“If you finally let me out of this house after three weeks and it’s to a place where sweatpants are an acceptable article of clothing, I will run you over with your own car,”

“So no sweatpants.”

“No,” He said firmly, standing up, “Sweatpants.”

James smirked at him, the familiar smirk that Aleks had _hated_ but which had slowly grown on him, but let him leave the room without any back talk. Aleks felt his eyes on him until he disappeared into the hall but he waited until he was safely in his room, back to the door, to pause and just. Breathe.

Okay. A date that wasn’t a date but was really, obviously a date.

He...hadn’t been on a date in...Awhile. Did he even have anything to _wear_ on a date?

He found his duffle, stuffed under the bed since he was currently cycling through all of his more comfortable clothes instead of pulling out the dressier shit just to sit around the house in. There were the slacks, the blazer, the dress shoes, a few nice shirts. All of it felt...over-formal for what he knew of James, though. He left the blazer but took the slacks and the most casual of the dress shirts and a fresh pair of boxers with him to the bathroom.

He took his time in the shower, scrubbed his hair until he was sure it was clean and then took to his skin with a hand towel and his Good Soap. It smelled nice and he’d only been using it on the nights that he was particularly down, but this seemed like the kind of night he should splurge. He didn’t leave the water until it was running cool and his skin was as clear as he was gonna get it after his diet and exercise levels the last few weeks. He left the small shower room without a towel, letting the cool air of the room dry his skin while he shuffled around in front of the counter until he located his lotion and got to work rubbing down his whole body until he was soft and smooth to the touch. Part of him wanted to laugh that he was going to so much effort but, really, this was his _usual_ routine and it felt really good to get back into it. Whether James appreciated it or not, Aleks found the whole thing relaxing. If he’d had razors, he might have bothered shaving but that hadn’t made it into the emergency kit or the gas station shopping list at the beginning of their trip.

When he was done giving his skin the care it deserved, he spread his meagre makeup supply out on the counter. He was running low on most of it but had enough for at least a few more days before he was either allowed home or was forced to send James out to pick up more and risk him getting the wrong brand. Ashley might kill him if he used anything that wasn’t Jinx brand, and then Gavin would probably bury his remains in the desert afterward so, really, his only hope was to go home before he ran out.

He maybe spent a little bit longer than usual applying the base, blending, fixing the imperfections carefully until there were none left to fix. His shirt was the palest blue he could pull of, so he used his white shadow and the barest touch of gray to make a matching color and rounded the edges of his liner to soften his eyes a little. He didn’t have a highlight pen so he did his best with what he had, just used a clear gloss on his lips and darkened his lashes with a few quick touches of the mascara.

He set back when he was done, inspected himself in the mirror and liked what he saw. He felt like himself again, _looked_ like himself again - for the most part. His roots were showing, bad; dark and pretty obvious against the pale of the rest of his hair. It looked okay, for now, but he was looking forward to getting that back under control, too. For the time being, he just styled it with some water and a practiced hand and then unfolded his clothes to get them on and check the finished look out in the mirror.

It wasn’t bad. Not his best, but he didn’t hate it.

He’d only taken about two hours, he didn’t have his entire closet to cycle through and that had shaved a good amount of time off his usual routine, and there was still a while to go before six. He wasn’t entirely sure how they were supposed to be leaving - through the front door like normal people, through his window like heathens, or some other way he hadn’t thought of yet. Instead of thinking too hard about it, he went back to the mirror with a comb and some water to mess with his hair for a while.

The closer the digital clock on the wall clicked to six, the more nervous he got. He tried to ignore it, to focus on fixing his eyebrows or, in the end, cycling through all of his dress shirts before settling back on the first one, but it was hard to think about anything else. James didn’t make him nervous, usually, and he still didn’t. It was more...the thought of going out, maybe? The longer Aleks thought about it, the more his mind started to invite other possibilities. Not that it wasn’t a date, because he was pretty goddamn positive it was, but more that...maybe it was the kind of date that wouldn’t end in the offer of a next one. More the kind that gave them the chance for a last hurrah before they split up forever. It wasn’t like he was in love with James, they’d only known each other for not even a month and they’d spent most of that time locked in a house together, but...he liked him. He was funny, in a loud sort of way, and had this dryness to his voice when he thought Aleks was being stupid that, somehow, just made Aleks want to smile.

He...ended up spending the rest of the time fretting, hands on the counter while he thought. He barely even noticed the clock tick to just before six until there was a soft knock on the wood of the door and a barely there, “Aleks.”

He looked himself over one last time, mused up his hair, and then went to the door to crack it open. James slipped inside, closed it, and flicked the lock back in place before he turned around to face him.

He paused when he saw Aleks, face going a little slack, and all the nerves from before disappeared. Whatever this way, a goodbye or a hello, at least Aleks could make James do _that_.

“Like what you see?”

“No,” James denied, the lie so apparent Aleks didn’t even bother calling it out. James had made an effort, though obviously as limited in choices as Aleks. He’d pulled his hair back like usual but he’d left the first few buttons of his white dress shirt undone, dark slacks and no jacket, another thin tie - black. He looked like a businessman who just got off work, casual but put together. Aleks wanted to mess him up.

Instead, he pushed his hands into his pocket and nodded toward the window, “I guess we’re doing this the hard way, huh?”

“Don’t we do everything the hard way with you?” James flashed him one of those sharp smiles again and then made a beeline for the window. He pushed it up and started to fuck with the netting while Aleks kept his ear to the door, listening for signs that they’d been detected.

James pulled the screen out and slid it under the bed, grabbed Aleks’ duffle and used it and the pillows to make a vaguely convincing lump in the bed that could have been one or two people, and then carefully climbed out of the window and onto the little roof part outside of it. Aleks watched him test it a little with his own weight and then look back through the window at Aleks and offer a hand.

“You coming? Or are you gonna pussy out?”

“Yeah, right,” Aleks sniffed, gave the room one last look over and then grabbed the small wad of cash he’d set on his counter earlier and hurried to the window, accepting James’ helping hand.

They were quiet as they slowly worked the window back down until it mostly looked closed, just a crack wide enough for their fingers to fit through and then they just kind of...took a second to look at each other and grin. Aleks hadn’t really snuck out like this in - Jesus, years. Sneaking down a staircase was a little different to sneaking out through a _window_ on the second story.

“I’ll go down first,” James whispered, leaning close so he could hear, “I’ll catch you, okay?”

“You think I need help?”

“Well,” James stopped, looked him over, “Wouldn’t want you to get dirt on your shirt.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Aleks said with finality and carefully toed his way over to the eave, got a good grip along the edge just before the gutter took over and slowly swung himself over the edge. Scaling had been one of Jeremy’s first lessons, the careful balancing act of his weight on his palms and arms. There was a brief second where he felt almost like he was going to lose his grip but he knew the drop was barely a few feet and wasn’t too worried. He let go when he’d fully gone over the edge, let the shock of the concrete travel through the balls of his feet and up his legs, went into a crouch with it, holding his arms out for balance. He just barely avoided scraping against the metal of the garage but managed to tilt backward in time.

Maybe not the most impressive, but smooth enough. When he looked up, James was watching him with a mix of annoyance and amusement.

“If I hadn’t spent most of the nights with you, I’d be worried you’d made this a habit.”

“You didn’t spend _every_ night with me,” Aleks said, just to tease, and watched James swing over the edge and land with a soft thud next to him.

“I don’t like what you’re implying.”

“Then maybe you should have spent those nights, too.”

“Can’t leave you alone, huh?”

“Dunno,” Aleks glanced around to make sure they were alone, that no one in the sleepy neighborhood had noticed them, “Can you?”

“You think you’re so fuckin’ smooth,” James muttered, but it was accompanied by a hand on his wrist, pulling him closer so James could lean down a kiss him, right there in the open air of the driveway.

It was their first kiss outside. It wasn’t exactly _public_ , but there were no walls to hide them from anyone that happened to glance out of their window at six-fifteen at night.  The sun was barely setting, still bright enough outside that there was no pretending they were doing anything else.

“I’ll, uh,” He said, just a little flushed, when James broke the kiss, “I’ll take that as a ‘no.’”

“God give me _strength_ ,” James shook his head, but he didn’t let go of Aleks’ wrist when he started walking. Carefully, because he had no fucking idea what he was doing, Aleks slipped his wrist free and tangled their fingers together, instead. James didn’t pause, but Aleks saw the way the back of his neck went dark with a blush of his own, and couldn’t keep the grin down if he tried.

They stayed off the street, cut along the fence of the safe house and then across the backyard of a neighbor, into the block of houses behind the safe house and _then_ made their way onto the street. Aleks stuck close, glanced around a little but, predictably, had no fucking idea where they were. He’d been to Colorado exactly once in his life and it was for a short business transaction Gavin needed to make before they continued their trip to England to go hang out with Uncle Dan for a few weeks. This was the first time he’d left the safe house and, fuck, he’d missed direct sunlight and fresh air. It was good to stretch his legs, to walk without getting frustrated about how closed in the backyard was, to be able to look around and see something different from tall trees and foliage.

“This is already the best date I’ve ever been on,” He decided, “And I never want to go back to that house again.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” James slowed his strides until they were just casually walking together, their hands loose but still tangled between them as they made their way down the street,  “We do have to go back. But I think we could steal a few hours before the others notice.”

“You’re gonna be in so much trouble.”

“God, don’t remind me. I’m telling them you held me up and forced my hand.”

“What am I holding you up with? My sharp wit?”

“More like your terrifying personality.”

“Oh, wow, sick burn, dude,”

“Can’t you just enjoy the quiet? Let’s just enjoy the quiet.”

“I’ve been in _quiet_ for _so long_. I want music, James. Music, real food made by professional hands. Five stars, the whole shebang.”

“I can do...two of those.”

“I’m willing to give up the music.”

“Gracious of you,”

“I’m known for my graciousness.”

“Someone’s told you a lie. Just a fuckin’ bold faced fuckin’ lie.”

The laugh bubbled from his lips without him even realized; just a deep-bellied giggle that followed them as they made it to the main road, where the goddamn ugliest van Aleks had ever seen was waiting for them in a shoulder of the road.

“What the fuck,” he stopped walking, refusing to let James tug him closer, “Is _that_?”

“This,” James smiled, smug and pleased with himself, “Was the only car I could rent in a five mile radius with ten hours’ notice.”

“That isn’t a car.” Aleks argued, “That - that’s. That’s. What the fuck _is_ that.”

“Our ride.” James patted his shoulder and then dragged him over, opened the passenger door with a bow that had Aleks huffily flopping into the seat. James shut the door after him, got into the driver’s side and started the thing up with -

“Is that a _screwdriver_?”

“No,” James denied, and then the engine puttered to life, and off they went.

It was a good prank, but Aleks was relieved that the drive was only about fifteen minutes because he was pretty sure the junker was gonna collapse out from under them like they were in a cartoon by the time James let the poor thing die in a parking spot in front of a small diner.

He took a second to look it over through the dirty windshield - a cute 80s theme, purposefully dated with a white and pink color scheme proclaiming it to be the best place in town.

“Don’t complain,” James said immediately, “We’re kind of hurting or options. It’s the only choice unless you’re in the mood for Arby’s.”

“It’s…” Aleks thought for a second, trying to decide how he felt. “No one’s ever taken me to a diner before. Is there a jukebox, like in the movies?”

“I think so. You think you can handle mingling with the peasantry for a night?”

“I’ve managed for the last few weeks, what’s another night?”

“Hardy fuckin’ har, see if I pay for you, then,”

“Let’s get a milkshake and share it,” Aleks decided thoughtfully, “Who is gonna wear the poodle skirt? I’d be down but I think you’d look better in it.”

“Get out of the car, Grease Lightning,”

James managed to wrangle his door open and Aleks took a second to push his own too, hoping it wouldn’t just fall off the hinges.

“I’m pretty sure Grease Lightning was the car,” He said, like he didn’t know every song in that musical thanks to Ryan, joining James in front of the van.

“I’m pretty sure you’re an idiot,” James shot back, leading him to the front door with a hand on his lower back. He pulled the door open for him and Aleks went through with a raised eyebrow, not bothering to hide his smile. _Someone_ was _trying_ , maybe a little more than he wanted to admit.

There was a blonde teenager behind the hostess stand, a pretty girl who was in the middle of blowing a bubble with her pink gum when she noticed them. She waited until the bubble had popped before smiling at them with a Customer Service smile that Aleks had never had to practice himself but could recognize.

“Reservation?” She asked, adjusting the white sunglasses perched on her head. He could only assume the whole get-up, undeniably 80s, was her uniform.

“Two for Wilson,” James glanced to either side of the desk, where the diner was mostly empty except for a group of three other teens stuffed into the corner booth and two other couples on the other side of the diner. “Business is boomin’ tonight, huh?”

“90s Nite was yesterday,” She shrugged, picked up two menus from her desk, “No one comes after 90s Nite. Lucky you.”

“Yeah,” Aleks nudged him, amused, “Lucky us.”

“I hate you,” James muttered to him as the hostess turned to lead them to a table.

“That’s, like, totally not what you were saying last night,” Aleks said through his nose, and maybe it was a tiny bit mocking toward the hostess but it made James cackle and that was kind of worth it.

“Oh, we want to bring up last night, huh?” James said, matching the quiet way Aleks had been talking. He reached out and ran a thumb under Aleks’ eye and Aleks knew exactly what he was thinking about. His face went hot and, glaring, he elbowed him in the ribs and hurried to catch up with their hostess.

She didn’t seem to have noticed because she just set their menus down and said, “What can I get you to, like, drink?”

“Water,” Aleks decided, sitting on one side of the booth so James could sit in the other. He was nice, let James have the side with the view of the door so he wouldn’t be constantly turning to look over his shoulder the whole time. “Extra lemon. And a chocolate milkshake, please.”

“I’ll take water, too,” James said, still rubbing the spot that Aleks had elbowed, “No lemon.”

“I’ll be right back with your drinks,” She said, like she was reading off a script, and neither of them watched her leave. Instead, they just looked at each other and exchanged amused grins.

“Great service. Amazing venue. I’d give it five stars if I were a critic.”

“And look,” James nodded at a spot over Aleks’ shoulder and he turned to look, “A jukebox. This place gets better and better.”

“Dude,” Aleks turned back to him, “We have to play something. Do you have quarters? They take quarters right?”

“I think so?” James shrugged and then shoved a hand in his pocket and held out his gains when he was done, revealing three quarters and a dime, “Go see what they have. I’ll wait for the drinks.”

Aleks lightly plucked one quarter from his palm and stood up, tapping the table to make a point when he said, “Two straws in the milkshake, we’re doing this right.”

James rolled his eyes, but he was smiling as hard as Aleks was and Aleks made his way over to the jukebox to look it over and really get a feel for it. He’d never seen an actual one before, just in the movies and shows he’d watched with Geoff and Jack or the plays Ryan had taken him to. Retro wasn’t exactly Gavin’s style so Aleks just...hadn’t really grown up with any interactions with something like this before.

There was a place to insert a coin, a start button and two arrows, one going up and the other down, next to a clear case with a flipbook of songs - the name followed by the artist and then the year it was released. All of them were from the 80s, about fifty options, each of which Aleks carefully picked through.

He found the one he wanted within seconds but made himself look through the rest just in case before he flipped back to his chosen song. He carefully inserted his quarter, made sure his song was selected, and then pressed start and scurried back to the table just as their hostess was dropping off their drinks.

“You boys ready to order?” She asked, notepad opened up as Aleks set back down.

“Uh,” Aleks glanced at his menu quickly before picking what he thought would probably be the most appetizing. “The, uh, steak. Medium-rare, and fries on the side, thanks.”

“Sure,” James shrugged, “Make that two steaks and - Aleks _andr_ , you meme-loving fuck -”

“You know the rules and so do I, James,” Aleks recited, grinning wider when James only gave him a disgusted look and went back to their bored hostess, “Two steaks and fries, _please_.”

“You got it,” She scribbled their orders down and then tucked her pen behind her ear, popping her gum once more, “That’ll be out in a few.”

She disappeared into the back, but James was already glaring back at Aleks and part of Aleks agreed he deserved it but the rest of him was too busy laughing at his own joke.

“I take you to a nice place, I buy you dinner, I get you outta the house, and you repay me like this. Like _this_. _Rick Astley_.”

“I just wanna tell you how I’m feelin’,” Aleks said, as straight faced as he could, and had to take a sip of his water to stop himself from laughing too loudly when James pulled a wounded face.

“You’ve lost jukebox privileges,” he said with feeling and pushed Aleks’ milkshake closer to him. There were two straws, much to Aleks’ glee - one pointed toward each of them. It looked authentic; a tall glass with a warm brown shake and whipped cream on top with a single cherry and a few brown sprinkles and what may have been cinnamon decorating the whipped topping.

“We’ll talk jukebox privileges later,” He dismissed, “Drink this with me.”

“We are two grown ass men,” James bitched, but he leaned forward and took the tip of his straw in his mouth and followed Aleks’ lead. It only worked for about three seconds before Aleks had to pull away or risk knocking the whole thing over with his laughter.

James didn’t have that problem and he spent a little more time with the milkshake while Aleks wiped at his eyes and listened to _Never Gonna Give You Up_ slowly start to fade out.

“This is - wow.” Aleks looked around, chest light as he took in the decor, the aesthetic of it all, of finally being out and free, even if only for a few hours. “I like this place.”

“It’s, uh,” James paused to take one more sip of the milkshake and then push it away, “It’s nice. Maybe not as nice as the places you’re used to.”

“Well,” Aleks squeezed his lemon into his water and then did the same with the extra one and slowly swirled his straw a few times, “None of the places I’m used to have a jukebox.”

“Thank god,” James said dryly, “The jukebox saved the whole date.”

“So it is a date,” Aleks set aside his juiced slices on a napkin out of the way, “We’re admitting it now, right?”

“You proclaimed it a date yourself, dude. Your words, not mine.” James shrugged, going for nonchalant but Aleks could see right through it.

“Don’t worry,” Aleks patted his hand across the table, “I can admit it for us both and be the bigger man here if you wanna keep pretending you aren’t into me.”

“Wow, there’s that gracious nature again.”

“I told you,” Aleks took another drink from the milkshake and almost choked when James slid his fingers between Aleks’ so they were holding hands on top of the table. He looked at their hands and then at James, a little taken aback, but James just shrugged, like it was a dare.

“If we’re sharing shakes and going on dates, I think first base is acceptable, right?”

“I think we’ve been running different diamonds if this is first base to you,” Aleks quipped, but he curled his fingers in a little and looked back down at them with the same smile he’d not been able to fight off since they came in, “But, uh. Yeah. It’s acceptable.”

The banter chilled out and they just set together for a few minutes, listening to the soft 80s pop playing, someone else’s jukebox request. They didn’t try to drink the shake at the same time again, but they did share it and, by the time their food was out, it was mostly gone and they were flicking folded pieces of ripped up napkin at each other using the glass as an obstacle. Aleks had eaten the cherry and tied the stem with his tongue because James hadn’t believed he could and James was still staring at the knot in wonder when she came back.

Their hostess plopped a platter down on the edge of the table and served them up two places, nice steaks with sides of golden brown fries and silverware for each of them, and topped both their waters off with a pitcher.

“Anything else I can get you?”

“No, uh,” James glanced at her, tearing his eyes from the knotted stem, “Amanda, thanks.”

“Just let me know if you change your mind,” She said, smile lightning fast, and then disappeared over to the corner with the other teenagers, who made room for her in the booth.

“Did you skim off work when you were a teen?” Aleks asked, trying to imagine James as a kid and kind of failing. Maybe his hair was longer, or shorter, his shoulders skinny instead of broad?

“No,” James snorted, one fry poised by his lips, “I was doing work a little more dangerous than waiting tables.”

“Oh, mysterious backstory,” Aleks wiggled his eyebrows, “How many orgasms do I need to unlock it?”

“Orgasms aren’t a currency,” James ate his fry and took a drink before continuing, “And it isn’t a mysterious backstory. I just got into the drug peddling trade a little earlier than most and hit it big. Moved on to weapons, joined up with my crew. It fell apart, so I got a job where I could put my skills to work and went into security.”

“You must have been good, not to have a record.” Aleks sliced into his steak and then spent a few minutes cutting it into small pieces, “Brett dug deep every time he hired a new guard. I can’t imagine Gav would have hired you if he knew.”

“Yeah,” James glanced down at his food, face going - weird. Not quite thoughtful or sad, but not _not_ those things either, “I guess. Not good enough to stay in that game, though. What about you? Cleaning money? Carrying Geoff’s sword cane around?”

“Canning factory, actually,” Aleks speared a piece of steak and chewed for a few seconds longer than necessary, “In Russia. I didn’t slack off there because there were a million other kids that wanted my job and the boss knew it. I worked at a processing plant in New York, though, but I got fired for stealing food from the breakroom. By the time I made my way to LS, I’d just started pickpocketing.”

“Shit, dude,” James hesitated for a second, “Tell me to fuck off if I get too personal, here. But the Fakes found you around the time you got to LS?”

“Yeah,” Aleks swirled his straw again, mixing his water a little more, “I’d been in town for...maybe a couple weeks but I wasn’t having much luck getting any money from the wallets I was picking. Everyone was carrying plastic, it was so irritating. I was _starving_. Man, I was so hungry, I hadn’t eaten in a couple days by that point, and this guy turns the corner I’m staking out and he’s got all this bling so I think maybe I could get something of him. Maybe enough for a sandwich or something. And then he, uh, caught me with my hand down his pants.”

James hissed sympathetically, but Aleks could only grin at the memory, “Don’t worry, he didn’t beat me up or anything. Just...kinda looked at me and was like _oi, you look half starved, kid_ and he bought me dinner. Got me a hotel room to myself because I wouldn’t go home with him.”

“Smart,” James frowned, “So you went with him the next time he asked?”

“God, no,” Aleks shook his head, “I wasn’t an _idiot_. He put me up in that hotel for a few weeks, but he came and talked to me every day. Through the door, at first, because I wouldn’t let him in, and then on the other side of the room.”

“ _Why_?”

“I dunno!” Aleks shrugged, but his chest was - warm. Bittersweet. This was fun - he was having fun with James. But he missed Gavin, too, like an ache. Missed all of them. “He said I reminded him of him when he was a kid. That I had potential to be like him, if I wanted it, and I did so I said yes and he took me in.”

“And the rest of the Fakes were cool with that? Someone bringing home a homeless kid?”

“Well...He hid me from the others for a long time. I think he _was_ afraid they’d make him get rid of me. But then he introduced me to Geoff and he, uh. He told me that there was always room in the family for another idiot and took me in, too. And that’s when I went to live with them and I’ve been there since.”

James shook his head, looking thoughtful, “It must have, uh. Must have been scary for a kid. But the gifts made things seem more real?”

“Basically,” Aleks lifted his hand to his locket, gripped it tight in his palm, “Kind of their way of saying that I’m worth all the money, I guess. We don’t exactly hang on to our dollars when they come our way, me and my family.”

“I think it’s ‘my family and I,’”

“Oh yeah?” Aleks laughed, shoved his foot against James’ and it maybe turned into a game of shoving at each other’s legs under the table while they ate before their food got cold. The conversation dropped for a while, just the sounds of scraping forks and the quiet talking coming from the teens behind them and the couples on the other side of the diner, too far to make anything out aside from the quiet tones of their voices.

They were both picking at the last of their food when James started to talk again.

“So Law’s ring? Was that a gift or what?”

“Ugh, don’t get me started,” Aleks pulled a face, drinking the last dredges of their milkshake, “I mean, it _was_ a gift but I think they just took it because Law’s been pawing at our borders lately and they wanted to teach him a lesson. It’s my size, which is cool. He probably has to wear it on his pink, with those fucking bear paws he calls hands.”

James cackled, ducked his head into his water to avoid drawing attention to the two of them. “Still, it’s kinda fucked that they stole it and left. Isn’t it a little dangerous, taking something like that out of the country? Why didn’t they just leave it with you?”

Aleks didn’t let his hesitation show when he shrugged. James didn’t mean anything by it, but this conversation was getting dangerously close to Aleks saying something he shouldn’t. Still, it would be weird if he did anything else but tease so he said, “Maybe they did, idiot. But, then again, maybe they didn’t. The Fakes are known for their, uh, fake outs, aren’t they?”

“That was…Bad. That was bad, Aleksandr.”

“You just don’t appreciate a good pun, that’s your problem. What about you, you nosy fucker. What’s _your_ life story, since you dragged mine out.”

“I didn’t _drag_ anything,” James scoffed, “I asked a question and you shared the whole thing yourself. Besides, my story isn’t nearly as interesting. Grew up in Philly, moved around a little, did most of my business in Philly and Denver, then Cali. Moved to LS for work. Collected my team, but I told you that story.”

“When I was eavesdropping on you and Asher, he said this was Jakob’s first run, but you said he’d been stabbed before, so what’s the deal there? And, oh, what happened in _Italy_. Did Asher get _shot_?”

“It’s Jakob’s first...high security protection detail.” James said slowly, obviously picking his words, “And, uh. Asher did get shot in Italy but I can’t really say much. Not my stuff to tell, you know?”

“You have this thing you do, when you lie,” Aleks reached over and tapped the middle of his bottom lip, “You lick your lip right here. Just a heads up.”

And maybe that would have made most people annoyed but James just tried to bite his finger and smirked when Aleks snatched his hand back just in time, “Maybe I knew that.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Aleks ate his last fry, “So he’s running jobs you don’t wanna tell me about. That’s okay. I’ll get them out of you eventually.”

“You wish. I’m like Fort fuckin’ Knox.”

“Yeah, right,” Aleks wiped his mouth on a napkin, folded it up neatly when he was done, and laid it on his empty plate, “Keep telling yourself that, babe.”

“Keep calling me _babe_ ,” James warned, “And you’re not gonna like what happens.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Babe.”

James shot him a glare and then rustled around in his pockets again to pull out another quarter. “My turn, bitch.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aleks flapped at him, “Go pick your meme, dude. I won’t even try to sneak away to a party while you’re gone this time.”

“You’re so goddamn funny,” James stood up, left the table to go fuck with the jukebox, and Aleks signaled Amanda over while he was gone.

She collected their dishes while James was gone, cocked her hip to hold her tray while she said, “I’ll be right back with the bill.”

“Here,” Aleks pulled out two hundreds and handed them to her, “That should cover it. Keep the change.”

“Uh,” She looked down at the bills then back at him, “These are two hundreds, man. Your bill’s like twenty bucks.”

“That’s where the keeping the change part comes in, dude,” he gave her a quick grin, “Thanks for giving us the real 80s experience.”

She slowly put the bills away in her pocket, popped her gum again and smiled back before she disappeared into the kitchen.

James came back just as she went through the doors and collapsed into his side with a narrow eyed look, “Did you get the bill while I was gone, fucker?”

“It was like twenty bucks,” Aleks shrugged, “Why don’t you get the next one?”

“What makes you think there’s gonna be a second one?” James sneered, but he looked - happy. Aleks could relate.

“Who wouldn’t wanna take me out on a second date? I’m a goddamn catch. Money, good looks, personality to spare -”

“Try sparing _me_ -”

“You’re so clever, but you _like_ me. You want to _date_ me. You want to _kiss me_ -”

“This again, someone help me,”

“I’m _right_ ,” Aleks laughed, leaning back as a distinctly 80s sounding keyboard-and-shaker combo started to play. The singer had a husky voice, pleasant but a tiny bit smoky as she started her song. The first line, _her hair is Harlow gold_ , gave Aleks enough pause to shoot James a look because this wasn’t a meme song.

James just ducked his head into his glass like he’d never had water before in his life, refused to make eye contact as the song played for the whole diner. The longer it went, the bigger Aleks’ grin grew, and the darker both of their faces got. It was about three and a half minutes of quiet as Aleks listened to the song and fell a little bit in love with the _asshole_ across from him.

“I’ve got _Bette Davis eyes_ ,” Aleks said when the song was over and it was back to the synthpop from before, “And _you’re_ a romantic.”

“Yeah, well,” James cleared his throat, sniffed once and stood up, “Let’s get out of here before they figure out we’re gone.”

“You mean let’s blow this pop stand?”

“I absolutely do not.” James said with finality, offering a hand to Aleks. Aleks took it and laughed all the way out of the diner. If their shoulders bumped together a few times as they walked, neither of them said anything about it.

“You know,” Aleks said, leaning against the van while James tugged at the door a little, “You may have got this thing to humiliate me, but it’s growing on me.”

“Sure, it is,” James finally managed to wrench the door open and then looked from the van to Aleks and back, “We...should probably Uber, right?”

“Maybe,” Aleks glanced into the van, behind the front seats and into the empty back - a little dirty but carpeted, at least, “Or...you could magic this thing into running long enough to get us somewhere more private and we could finish off our illicit 80s date with some old-fashioned third base in the back of the car.”

“I’ll...see what I can do.” James agreed and left Aleks to get in while he worked his own door open.

He did magic the van into running, and they puttered at a solid fifteen miles an hour, laughing the whole way - at the diner, the stupidity of two men their age having to sneak around, the van. Everything. Aleks felt...free.

James parked them in another shoulder close to the one the van had been left in and they climbed into the back and fooled around like fucking teenagers, giggling kisses giving into breathless gasps and wandering hands undoing slack buttons. Aleks, not for the first time, wished they had access to lube and condoms so they could go further, but this - this was good, too. Almost perfect.

Toward the end, it turned - different. James’ kisses a little more imploring, a little more intense. He touched Aleks like he was memorizing him, fingers and slick palms touching all of him, running down his sides, across his stomach and chest, settling on his hips before moving down his thighs until his pants got in the way, coming back up to grip his ass and hitch his hips closer to James’. It was a little bit - sad, suddenly, and all of the thoughts he’d had standing in front of the mirror bubbled back up and turned his touches a little more desperate, too. If this really was one of the last times they were gonna be together, Aleks wanted to remember as much as he could.

When they were finally satisfied, James’ hand pressed to his spine under his shirt with the other on his hip, his own hands tangled in his hair and holding him close so he could kiss him as he pleased, they laid pressed together in the stillness, just breathing together.

“I really wasn’t...” James said quietly, their noses brushing as he leaned down to rest his head on Aleks’ shoulder, “You were not what I was expecting, diamond boy.”

“I rarely am,” Aleks said, a little dry, cradling his head with his arms, “You, uh. You weren’t exactly what I was thinking, either. Somehow you’ve become an endearing asshole instead of an insufferable one.”

“Feeling’s mutual,” James leaned up for one last kiss, gentle, and then set up on his knees and started to straighten himself out, “Think you can manage to get back on the roof as quiet as you got off?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Aleks said, offended, sitting up to start buttoning his shirt. He helped James fix his tie, James smoothed out his hair, and the he pushed the back doors open while James was taking his own hair down to tie it up in a neater bun than before.

Proper night had fallen an hour ago, but the streetlamps were bright enough that he wasn’t particularly worried about it. James slammed the doors shut after they were both out and left the van where it was parked to cross the main road with Aleks at his side again.

Their walk back was even slower than their walk out, and quieter. Aleks played with James’ fingers as they walked, holding his palm between his own and threading their fingers together to look at the way James’ tanner skin contrasted with his. James’ nails were short, his fingers rough, the lifelines in his palm, as Ryan would say, healthy.

“Hey,” James said when they were readying to cross the darkened grass that would take them back onto their block. Aleks hummed in response, looking up from where he’d been comparing their lifelines, but James just looked at him - eyes dark and unreadable in the dark just as they had been the night before - and shook his head. “Never mind. Let’s go.”

They went. The night was chilly and Aleks stuck close, shivering a little as the silk of his shirt cooled in the night. The lights in the house were off and that was a good enough sign that they both crossed the neighbor’s yard quickly and stopped on the side, out of sight of the front porch.

“I’ll give you a boost,” James whispered, pointing up, “Then you help me up, okay?”

Aleks nodded, shook himself out while James locked his fingers together and knelt down. He was just setting his foot in James’ hands when a familiar voice behind them said, “The front door might be easier, boys.”

Aleks whirled around, hands going behind his back to give off the appearance of being open, “Oh, A-Anna. Hi, Anna. We were just, um. I. Snuck out. Whoops. James was just - catching me. Damn it, foiled again!”

“Stop.” She held up a hand, most of her lit up by the floodlights from the garage, “Just...go inside. James, I think it’s time we had a team meeting.”

Behind him, James sighed - low and deep. “Yeah. I think so.”

She turned around to head back in, obviously expecting them to follow, and Aleks turned to give James a _oh shit_ look that he returned with a more tired shrug.

“Don’t worry,” He said, pressing a hand to Aleks’ back to get him to walk, “I’ll...take care of it. It’s fine. Can you do me a favor and _not_ eavesdrop?”

“...I don’t usually do this, but just this once, I’ll keep my nose out. If you promise Asher isn’t going to try to kill me.”

“Trust me,” James sighed, “It’s not Asher you have to watch out for. But...no one is gonna hurt you. I’ll keep you safe, okay?”

“Okay?” Aleks smiled, a touch confused but still warmed by the assurance, “Yeah, okay. I’ll...see you later tonight?”

“Maybe,” James held the door open for him, using that tone Aleks could recognize to mean _yes_.

The rest of the team wasn’t in view, but he could hear Anna’s quiet voice coming from the living room. He took his chance, leaned forward to one more kiss, more a peck than anything.

“Maybe.” He repeated, and then headed up the stairs.

He glanced over his shoulder before he went into his room - the lock picked and the door ajar - and James was still there, watching him. He stopped, just for a second. Met his eye and tried to read his face and got nothing but that same bit of sadness that had kind of hung over them or most of the later part of the date.

James started walking and so did Aleks and he shut the door behind him but didn’t lock it. He leaned his back to it, closed his eyes, tried to decide if he wanted to keep his promise or not.

But...James had asked. He reached up, curled his palm around his locket, felt the weight of it in his hand. He left the door alone, went to the counter to start taking his makeup off. He’d keep his promise, just this once.

-

He was sleeping - shallow, not deep enough to worry about nightmares - when James joined him. It must have been hours later, but he didn’t think about that. Just curled into the warm thigh next to him once James had settled into a sitting position and sighed when he felt a warm, gentle hand thread through his hair and pick up a steady rhythm.

He slept.

-

He woke up alone, which didn’t surprise him. What did, on the other hand, was that all of his things had been packed into his duffle bag, including all of his bathroom supplies except for his toothbrush and the same clothes he’d worn during their travel day a few weeks ago. It sparked an excitement in him that he didn’t want to put a name to in case he jinxed it so he just brushed his teeth, changed, packed the last of his things away and then shouldered the bag and casually walked downstairs.

Obviously _something_ had happened because the house had been mostly cleaned: the kitchen was empty of food except for a banana, a pack of Pop Tarts, and a bottle of water; the gaming system and assorted entertainment items from the living room were missing, and the couch had been covered back up by the cloth.

He left the Pop Tarts, ate the banana as fast as he could and took a few sips of water before he left in search for James. The SUV wasn’t in the garage when he peeked inside so he went looking upstairs and found his target in the farthest room, wrapping wire around one of the signal jammers Aleks had seen during one of his first looks around.

“We’re going home,” He said when James looked at him and couldn’t help the brightness of it. James looked fucking exhausted, but he cracked a smile and stood up, jammer in his hands.

“Yep. Asher and Jakob just went to finish loading the plane and they’re on their way back to pick us up. Asher’s staying behind to make sure everything’s good to fly.”

“Is Gavin home? Have you heard from any of them?”

“Uh,” James licked his lip, looking down at the jammer, “Yeah. Yeah, we got word this morning. He’s home and ready to kick some ass, so we’re getting you back there before he comes for ours.”

“You’re funny,” Aleks narrowed his eyes, looked James over a little slower, “You look tired. How’d that talk go last night?”

“We...reevaluated.” James said and at least seemed to be telling the truth this time, “Everything’s taken care of, they won’t bother you.”

“You reevaluated all night?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” James shrugged and then knelt back down to stuff the jammer, the last thing still left out, in a backpack. “Did you eat? There was stuff in the kitchen.”

“Yeah, I -” Aleks started and then stopped, “Did you hear that?”

James shot up, hand going to the gun at his hip, “Hear what?”

“I think it was the car,” Aleks turned around, ignored James when he said his name, and made it to the stairs in time to see Anna and Jakob race through the front door and slam it shut behind them.

“JAMES!” Jakob shouted, “James, we have a Mc _Fuckin’_ _Problem_!”

James joined him at the stairs, looked just a little panicked, “What’s -”

“Law’s coming!” Anna managed and Aleks had about two seconds to register those words before James was shoving him back into his room and someone was _hurling_ the front door open with an earth-shattering slam of the wood against the opposite wall.

“This - _fuck_ ,” James rubbed his face, “No, this is not - this wasn’t supposed to happen, he’s _early_ -”

“What do you mean _early_ -” Aleks got out, his stomach flipping, and James looked at him and he just - he just, suddenly, _knew_ even before an unfamiliar voice boomed downstairs.

“Time’s up, Wilson! I’m here to collect my diamond!”

 _How the hell do I know you haven’t just kidnapped me_? He’d asked during that first drive, when James had stolen his car.

 _You don’t_. James had said.

Aleks hadn’t.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey look!!! it wasn't a month!!! 
> 
> i cant make that promise for the last chapter but..................i give u this ajsdlfk
> 
> thank u guys so much for the crazy support from last chapter <3 im sorry the wait is TERRIBLE but....i will get this fic finished RIP
> 
> im racing against the clock rn re: broken chargers (which can be learned about on my tumblr cockbite.tumblr.com :((( ) so i cant link to anyone properly BUT pls check out myriadus and also hrtbnr.tumblr.com, who both helped me beta the chapter. hrtbnr is an AMAZING artist and drew an amazing piece of art for a scene from chapter 6!! pls check her out seriously, she is Amazing.
> 
>  
> 
> p.s.: uhhhh sorry for the ending guys

 

Law was a big man. Tall, thick in the middle, arms the size of Aleks’ chest, hair chopped tight to his head, a bright red shirt and some jeans and reflective sunglasses even though they’re inside. Jeremy would have said he had a Calus bod and he looked the kind of guy that could decapitate someone with a good right hook. On a regular day, Aleks probably wouldn't have antagonized him.

“So, this is the twink that tacky bitch gave my jewel to, huh?” Law said, voice baritone. Aleks shifted his wrists but Law’s men had tied the cords tightly enough that there was no wiggling out of them anytime soon. It didn’t stop him from trying, trying to shove the two men holding his arms off. Neither of them were particularly big but, between the two of them, they were able to hold him pretty tight. Neither of them even bothered to look at him.

“No point in struggling,” Law continued, nothing changing in his face as he spoke. Aleks was expecting the hit but - god, right in the gut. It was the first time he’d been properly hit since he was a kid. He knew how to take it, even all these years later, but it still had him doubling over and gasping. Law’s men let him go and he dropped, curling over to blink back the feeling that he was gonna throw up the banana from earlier.

“Law!” James broke in, sharp, “He doesn’t react to getting slapped around.”

“You’ve had your time to do this quietly, Wilson,” Law said, just as barbed, and Aleks didn’t look up when he heard the near silent _shink_ of a switchblade being drawn, “I’ve waited a month for my diamond. Get the damn lockbox.”

Aleks did look up then, more out of instinct than anything. He didn’t know why he was surprised. Of course James had told Law about the lockbox, why would he have kept that to himself? This whole time, every innocent question, James had been fishing and Aleks was just lucky he hadn’t been stupid enough to _tell_ James.

James met his eyes, brows furrowed in the way that Aleks knew to mean he was frustrated. He dropped Aleks’ gaze almost immediately and his face didn’t change but Aleks could see the shame in his eyes and he hoped it burnt him up.

“Yeah, Wilson,” He rasped, pushing himself up because even if he was on his knees he wasn’t gonna just lay on the ground like one punch was gonna lay him out, “Wouldn’t want to make him angry.”

“I didn’t say you could get up,” Law said, and then there was a boot between Aleks’ shoulders and he was being shoved back to the ground. The weight didn’t leave him this time, kept him prostrate on the ground, and he let himself be pinned. Part of him wanted to fight - he was hurt, he was _furious_ \- but he knew his priorities. Pride, Gavin had taught him, was always important. But sometimes the role that needed playing called for his pride to be put to the side. His priority was to survive and minimize injury to himself so he would be able to escape when the opportunity presented itself. He would rage and nurse his bruised pride when he was safe, again.

He heard James _tsk_ and then move to his duffle bag. It was still laying where Aleks had left it when he’d stood up from the sprawl James had shoved him into. He’d managed to stand up before Law’s men had thundered upstairs and pushed past James to get to him but he hadn’t had time to try to hide it at all. It would have been an exercise in futility, anyway.

The zipper was loud in the room, the rustle of clothes, the scrape of the box against the metal of the zipper. It was a lockbox, but there was nothing important enough in there that had required a truly secure holder. He didn’t have to wonder what the popping sound was.

“Give it to me,” Law said, and there were a few seconds of silence except for the box opening up and Law going through it once, twice, three, four times - upturning it onto the floor right in front of him. Pictures fluttered in the air before coming to land on the ground, rings bouncing and rolling to a stop, stupid knickknacks thudding hard. One, a glass bear Michael had given him for his sixteenth birthday shattered into six small pieces.

“It’s not,” Law said, voice dangerous, “ _Here_.”

“You’re _sure_ he has it?” James spoke up, “I’ve gone through the bag at least ten times, I’ve searched the clothes for pockets, it’s not _on_ him. If it isn’t in the box then it isn’t _here_ , Law.”

“Oh, he’d better have it,” Law snapped back and buried his huge hand in Aleks’ hair. Aleks bit back a cry of pain, unwanted tears prickling at his eyes from the sting, as Law wrenched him up to his knees again by his hair. “I know it’s here because the Fakes haven’t given it up yet even though we have their rent boy. That leaves us two options: They have it and it’s worth more to them than the fool’s diamond _or_ it’s been with him this whole damn time and they’ve been stalling.”

“Or they took it out of the country and left it somewhere they can’t get to it,” James pointed out and Aleks bit his tongue so hard he tasted blood when Law just tightened his grip on his hair and forced his head back.

“You’d better hope that’s not what happened,” Law said quietly, “Otherwise, things are about to go _very_ badly for you, fool’s gold. Where’s the ring?”

Aleks didn’t answer, and got another punch to the gut for his troubles.

“Where’s the _ring_?”

He got a slap to the face for his silence that time and he felt his cheek split. He’d seen Gavin slap a few people around enough to know that rings rarely left kind wounds and he really hoped Ashley had something to help with scars after he got out of this. The blood was hot when it ran down his face and he wanted to rip his arms free to get it off but _couldn't_. He did have to take a few deep breaths, remember that he wasn't a kid anymore. He wasn't safe, but he wasn't bloody and starving and dirty in an alley, either.

 _Fuck_ , he hated shit on his face.

Law grabbed his face, his chin in the space between his fingers and thumb, gripping his cheeks painfully until his mouth was pursed. His nails dug in hard enough to pierce but Aleks refused to meet his eye. Law would think it fear, he would think Aleks cowed, and that would give Aleks the opening he wanted.

“You're cute, kid,” Law pulled his face closer until they were nearly nose to nose, “But I don't want to play games. Tell me where my ring is or I'll start breaking bones.”

Aleks wasn't going to give the ring up. Gavin was counting on him and his pride as a Fake was at stake but, most importantly, Aleks didn't think he would be alive for more than a few seconds after giving it up. As long as he kept it secret and didn't antagonize Law, he might be tortured but he wouldn't be killed. If he could get to a phone, he could call someone. If he had a chance to be alone, he would hide his locket somehow.

That would be his goal. Stay quiet. Hide the locket. Get to a phone. Call someone. He was a fool to have trusted James and the others. A stupid, _stupid_ fool. If he died, it would be his own fault.

“He doesn’t think we’re serious, boys,” Law shoved him back, standing straight up and looking down on him with a grim frown, “He thinks I won’t do it. Think I’m too scared? Think your little family is gonna come save you? Three states away and hidden out of their sight?”

Aleks had no way to defend himself against the savage kick Law aimed at him. His heavy boot connected with Aleks’ side and it held enough force to send him backwards a few inches back. He couldn’t stop the cry that time - pained and shocked. He tried to curl into himself to protect his ribs but he knew that there was nothing he could do and it was - terrifying. He tried to breathe through the pain but it _hurt_ , a pulsing pain coming from his ribs. If he had to guess, Law had cracked one or two of them with that blow.

He, not for the first time in his encounter, flashed back to when he was just a kid on the run. He’d met men like Law plenty - big bullies who didn’t mind beating up people smaller than them. Much like he’d been back then, he was scared. But he kept it together because he had to.

Stay quiet. Hide the locket. Get to a phone. Call someone.

“It was so _easy_ ,” Law continued because Aleks could only assume it was monologue time. “ _You_ were so easy. On your high horse with Free. The two of you flouncing around the city like you own it just because you work for the Kingpin - but look at you now. Fell for a few cheap tricks and a pretty face. The fool’s gold is just as much of a fool as his master.”

Aleks didn’t move. Law wanted a reaction and Aleks wasn’t going to give it to him. Stay quiet. Hide the locket. Get to a phone. Call someone. No matter what he said, those were the goals he needed to reach. Even so, Law wasn’t _wrong_ about him. He’d fallen for everything so easily. Been so distracted by the Fakes leaving that he hadn’t even checked James’ story, and then had been so desperate for a distraction that he’d let James seduce him. Had developed _feelings_ when his first priority should have been reaching out to someone he trusted and knew. He _was_ a fool.

“I’ll ask one more time and then your friends here,” Law motioned over his shoulder to James, Anna, and Jakob, all standing stoic in the doorway of the bedroom, one of Anna's hands seemingly touching James’ back, “Are gonna start breaking things. Where. Is. My. Ring.”

“What ring?” Aleks finally said, and then arched with a muffled yell as another foot collided with his back. He barely had time to take that one in before Law’s other guy connected a kick to his shin that had him trying to struggle out of the cords again, curling to protect his ribs and head as best he could.

“Don’t stop ‘til he squeals, boys,” Law ordered and Aleks started to struggle with the cords harder, felt the rough material scrape at his skin even worse until he was sure there was blood. If he was gonna be beaten, he might as well try to get out of the cords to fight back. Law laughed, loud and booming, like he was amused, but Aleks didn’t stop even as the third kick landed on his shoulder. The next was his chest again, though, and he couldn’t hold back the scream as a toe collided hard with a spot terrifyingly close to where he was pretty sure Law had cracked the rib and that seemed to be too much because James finally broke in with a loud, “Law, _stop_! He won’t be able to say _anything_ if you kill him! This wasn’t a part of the deal!”

“Kill him?” Law sneered, “Don’t be soft, Wilson, we’re not going to kill him. We’re gonna _break_ him. Besides, your part is done. I’m sick of playing hostage negotiations.”

“Just - fuck, give me fifteen minutes with him. I’ll get him to talk.”

“You’ve had three weeks with him and haven’t managed to make him squeak anything useful.”

“Yeah, well, that was before. He knows what’s at stake now. Look...if anyone can get it out of him, it’s me. I got him here, didn’t I? My guys’ll take you around the house. He might have hidden it in the attic or the basement and things’ll be faster if ya’ll search for it in case we missed something. Check the couch.”

“A diamond that could buy a small country and you think it’s in _the couch_ ,” Law spat but James must have convinced him because he continued, “ _Ten minutes_. And then I’m coming for your fingers, fool’s gold.”

He left leisurely, but he was heavy and his steps made the floors creak angrily under him in the old house. Aleks was familiar enough with the sounds of the floor that he didn’t need to see to know where he was, so he didn’t look up from where he’d ducked his head for the barest hint of protection even when he heard Law’s guys follow him.

The door shut quietly, presumably behind Anna or Jakob. James didn't start talking, Aleks didn't look at him.

He heard, after a few seconds, the sound of his lockbox being picked up and then the quiet shuffling of his pictures, James going around the room and collecting his jewelry and trinkets.

It wasn't until that was done that James finally came to him, slowly kneeling on the ground by his side.

“You don’t want to talk to me.” James set the box down next to his head, “And I - I get it. I’m not gonna try to defend myself, here. But, seriously, just give him the ring. If you give it to him, he’ll let you go home. I swear, he’ll let you go home, the Fakes are there and -”

“ _Don’t_ ,” Aleks snapped, slowly sitting up. James didn’t try to help and Aleks was glad of it. He could still remember the feel of James’ hands on his skin, palms along his spine, lips against his, and all of it made him sick with shame. “Don’t you dare try to promise me anything. You don’t even have the right to say their name. You think he’s gonna let me go? Are you _stupid_? He’s gonna kill me, with or without that _fucking_ ring -”

“I know my promises don’t mean shit, but I swear, I _swear_ , I was taking you home today and I still can. Law wasn't supposed to be here for another like two days, this wasn't supposed to _happen_ , but if you just give him the ring -”

“I _won't_!” Aleks hissed, “I wouldn't tell you or him or anyone where that fucking ring is with a knife to my throat so take your manipulative _bullshit_ and shove it,”

“I am _trying_ to keep you alive, Aleksandr! If you just give him what he wants -”

“Maybe you’d betray your crew,” Aleks finally met his eye, glare fierce, “But I won't betray mine.”

“You're so _fucking_ stubborn,” James grabbed him by the front of his hoodie like he could just shake him until he gave in and it _hurt_ but Aleks met him head on without flinching, “I can get you _home_ , just give him the ring and we can sneak you out while he’s distracted!”

“I would rather not, thanks,” Aleks lurched back, tried to break his grip even though he didn’t have arms to shove at him, and James let him go like he’d been burned. James’ fingers had caught his locket when he curled them into the material of his hoodie and the silver chain clanged against itself a little, the smallest of noises in the sounds of the creaking wood and muffled shuffling below them. James’ eyes fell to his chest, his face going from angry to smooth between one second and the next.

Aleks didn't react. He could feel his cheek still sluggishly leaking blood, taste it on his tongue, and there was nothing he could do when James reached for him again, touch careful as he pulled Aleks’ locket from his hoodie. He held the book charm in his palm, looking between it and Aleks’ face for a few quiet moments, eyes lighting up in realization.

“You lied to Hundley. Of course you did. It’s been right in front of me this whole time and I fucking missed it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Aleks said stiffly, refusing to budge.

“Sure, you don’t.” James agreed, closing his fingers around the locket and reaching with his other hand to unclasp the chain from around Aleks’ neck.

Somehow, that action was the one that really let it all settle in, and Aleks ducked his head to hide the burning of his eyes. _Stupid_.

James didn’t immediately break it open. He sat with Aleks, holding the charm between his fingers. It wouldn’t be difficult to break into, just snapping the small latch would pop it right open. He was hesitating, though. Which meant he felt _guilty_ and, while Aleks wanted to sneer at him again, he also knew he could use that to his advantage, here. It was high time he stopped letting his emotions control him like he was still a child.

“If you care about me at all, you won’t open that.”

“It’s _because_ I care about you that I should open it,” James replied, sounding frustrated. He didn’t break it, though, and it was an opening Aleks wasn’t going to pass up.

“Then _why_?” he demanded, and maybe his voice was a little more emotional than he would have preferred, but that was okay. The more real James thought it was, the better it was for Aleks. “Why would you - a stupid _date_ , James, that’s so fucked up, just to get information for _Law_ -”

“It _wasn’t_ like that!” James shook his head, his look just as fierce as Aleks’, “It wasn’t, okay? Law hired us days before I met you, when word got around that Free was leaving you in Los Santos. We were just supposed to keep you away from the Fakes until they gave the diamond back. Yeah, we tricked you but - none of _us_ was _about_ that after we got here! Not when it turned into more -”

“That isn’t how - that’s not how it _works_ , James!” Aleks wiggled against his restraints angrily, only stopping when his chest pulsed painfully enough that he was forced to, “This is more than just a, a _trick_! You were milking me for info! You were keeping me _hostage_! That - there was never an _us_ or _more_ , you _lied_ to me! You used me!”

“I know,” James held the locket in one hand, used the other to shove loose hair from his face. He looked strained, sweat beading at his temples despite the chill of the air, “I know. Fuck, I didn’t mean for this to happen, Aleks, I swear. I was just supposed to make you like me enough to give up the jewel and get it to Law and he’d give you back to the Fakes and maybe you’d already be home by now if I’d just done my job. But _you_ just. Can’t make things easy.”

“ _Me_!? You’re blaming me!?”

“No, I’m blaming _me_ , you idiot! I got _distracted_. You’re too fucking good at your job and you twisted me all up between your goddamn fingers instead of the other way around and I _fell_ for you like a goddamn _fool_ -”

Aleks had to close his eyes again, take a deep breath against the emotions welling up in him, choking him up a little. His heart hurt and it only got worse when James’ voice went softer, like he regretted what was happening as much as Aleks was hurting from it. Aleks had always thought he was good at sounding sincere, but James. James really took the cake, here.

“Well, what now, asshole?” he managed to say, “You gonna give it to him? There’s no way I’m getting out of this alive, you stupid fuck. He was never going to let me go _alive_. Especially not when he’s in the same goddamn room as me. He’s gonna beat me black and blue until I give him the ring, then he’ll slit my throat.”

“No. I’m -” James stopped, brows furrowed harder than Aleks had ever seen before. “I told you we talked last night. I was going to take you home today, before Law showed up. We can still do that. I just have to get you to the airfield. Asher’s there, he’s ready to head back to Cali. Kovic might still be in Vegas -”

“Oh my _god_ , I _did_ see Adam! You all made me think I was crazy, but he was there! He was coming for me, and you just -”

“Yes, okay, _yes_ , it was Kovic! You can beat me up when we’re in the car, Aleksandr!”

“Oh, don’t worry. If by some fucking miracle you and me are near each other when my hands are free, you’re gonna get a solid right hook to that smug fuckin’ face. How in the _hell_ are you gonna get me to the airfield!?”

“I don’t know, okay!? Just - let me think.” James pressed his free palm to his forehead, shut his eyes like it would somehow help some sort of plan come to him. “...is your chest okay? Can you run?”

“Yes, I can _run_ ,” Aleks snapped, “I think Law cracked a rib or something but I’m not _immobile_.”

“Will you let me look?”

“When I’m fucking dead.”

“Aleks, come one -”

“ _Don’t_.” Aleks tried to snarl, but his voice gave a little bit in the middle and it was pathetic enough that James must have got the hint because he backed down, “You don’t get to gaslight me. I don’t want you to touch me. You aren’t going to get my _permission_ to touch me.”

“Okay.” James dropped his hands and his voice both, “I get it. I don’t...deserve your trust. I just wanted to see if they were broken, but if you don’t want me to touch you, I won’t.”

“I don’t.”

“Okay.” James repeated, and then carefully stood up. He slipped Aleks’ locket into his pocket and went to the window to peek through the blinds. “I’ll keep this until we get to the airfield so he doesn’t find it on you. I’ve got a plan. I’m not asking you to trust me, but just...go with it. Think you can take a few more hits? He might get rough.”

“Depends. What’s the plan?”

“He’s got too many guys with guns to just run you out,” James left the window to return to him, grabbed his box and replaced it in his duffle carefully, “So I’m gonna tell him you stashed it on the jet and that you’re willing to show him where. He’ll want to take you with him to the field to make sure. We get you in the jet, Asher takes off while he waits outside.”

“That’s...the stupidest fucking plan I’ve ever heard.”

“Maybe,” James zipped up his bag, “But it’s all we’ve got, unless you can think of something better.”

“...what about you?” Aleks narrowed his eyes, “If Law was willing to go after me, he’s gonna hunt you guys down for revenge. Your team doesn’t even _like_ me. Why would they help me?”

“They’re loyal to me, not to Law. I told you, we talked last night.”

“You _talked_ last night, what does that mean?”

“Aleks -”

“I think you owe me this, James, for fuck’s sake!”

“I told them I couldn’t go through with it, okay!?” He hissed back at him, frustration evident, “Asher was right, I got in over my head and I knew I wasn’t gonna be able to hand you over if Law asked for you. Happy now?”

“No!” Aleks managed to keep his voice below a yell, still aware enough to not alert the people he could still hear downstairs that James wasn’t beating him for an answer, “None of it makes fucking sense, James!”

“You said it yourself,” James said with a shrug, no longer looking at him, “The job turns off. Maybe it’s fucking reverse Stockholm or something, I dunno. Maybe you just beat me at my own game. All I know is that you fuckin’ - jumped off a roof with me last night and got into a van that turned on using a _screwdriver_ and just laughed instead of telling me to fuck off when I pulled up to a trashy 80s dive diner.”

“So, what, you fell in love with me? Is that it? Three weeks and you’re gonna sacrifice your team for me?”

“ _No_ ,” James groaned, rubbing his face hard like he was trying to resist the urge to add a kick of his own at Aleks, “I’m not _in love_ with you. But I fucking like you, okay? And, you know what, maybe if things were different I _could_ have fallen in love with you. Stop worrying about us, we kidnapped you! Just shut the fuck up unless it’s to play along so you can go home.”

Heart pounding, Aleks opened his mouth to reply but...couldn’t. Stupid, _stupid,_ this was so fucking stupid, _they_ were so fucking stupid.

“How do I know this isn't just another trick? How am I supposed to believe that you're suddenly on my side?”

“I don't know how to convince you,” James hesitated, “But your whole thing isn't just being attractive, is it? Read me, I dunno. I'm not lying, Aleks.”

Aleks was about zero for three weeks’ worth of interactions in the cold reading department but he still took a few seconds to really _look_. James wasn't trying to hide anything, body language open and apologetic, sincere eyes, his eyebrows pinched. All of his emotions, somehow, came from the brows.

“...It’s called Lima Syndrome,” He finally gave in and, when James gave him a confused, annoyed look, explained, “When a kidnapper falls for the hostage. It’s called Lima Syndrome.”

“Jesus Christ,” James shook his head, but his shoulders came down in a relieved sigh, “You’re such a fucking know-it-all.”

“But you want to kiss me anyway,” Aleks couldn’t help but say, because he was _mad_ , of course he was, and James was gonna catch these fucking hands when they were free, but...Aleks was a stupid fucking idiot.

“Yeah,” James huffed out a laugh, rough, “Yeah, I do.”

“I bet if you get me home in mostly one piece, Gavin will only take one finger from you when I tell him you kidnapped me.”

“Is that before or after you tell him you snuck out _twice_?”

“Definitely before.” Aleks cracked a small smile that turned into a grimace when he shifted and his chest protested with a sharp pain again.

“You’re sure you’ll be able to run?” James knelt by his side again, hovering a little, “Nothing broken?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Aleks shifted again, slower, until he could cross his legs and take the weight off his side, “I’ll run fine. Do something about my hands and I’d possibly even say thank you.”

“I will,” James promised, crawling around him to take a look at his hands, “Soon as I can. Stop strugglin’, you’re just ripping up your wrists. Can you feel this?”

“You poking me? Yes, knock it off, that hurts!”

“I’m just making sure!” James defended, “Losing circulation might lose you the hands,”

“I _know_ , that’s why I want them untied, idiot,”

“Put up with it for a little longer. I don’t know if he’ll let us ride separately, but I won’t leave you alone with him, okay?”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Wilson.”

“I don’t.” James stood up again, sounds of feet stomping back up the stairs letting them both know that the fruitless search of the house had been concluded and Law was coming back with a vengeance.

James cast one last look over his shoulder at Aleks, caught his eyes in that same way he’d caught him last night and that dusk of one of their first days in the house. Aleks couldn’t have broken it if he’d wanted to, not until James finally let him go and disappeared into the hallway to meet Law before he came in.

Aleks could hear mumbling, James speaking quietly to Law presumably, and there was a pregnant pause of any sound whatsoever, like even the house was waiting to see if Law would fall for it.

That silence was broken with the bedroom door being hurled open so hard that it ricocheted off the wall and would have slammed closed again if not for Law bursting through with a roared, “ _YOU LEFT MY JEWEL IN A FUCKING JET_!?”

Aleks did the first thing he could think to do, hunched in on himself and cowered, whimpering out, “I-I thought it would be safe there! It’s Gavin’s jet, who would mess with _Gavin Free’s_ jet?”

“You _stupid_ fucking -” Law raged, hand going to his pocket but James was already striding forward, grabbing Aleks by his collar again and roughly forcing him onto his feet.

“The jet’s only forty-five from here,” James said, sounding irritated, “Let’s just make him show us where the jewel is and then we can send him home or dump him in the lake or something.”

“I don’t see why we don’t kill him _now_ ,” Law flicked out the switchblade again, a nasty looking thing that was probably sharp enough to skin a man. It looked small in his meaty hand, but Aleks had to guess it was at least six inches or more. Even imagining that thing near him made his heart stutter.

“Because if we kill him now and he turns out to be lying, we’re fucked,” James pointed out, already dragging Aleks out of the room, past Law and his men and Anna and Jakob. Aleks stumbled after him as fast as he could, but he was dizzy from suddenly finding himself on his feet and the pain of his chest hadn’t got any better from the initial kick, and one of Law’s guys had got him good enough in the shin that walking was painful. Maybe running, at least for any long period of time, _was_ out of the question.

Law grabbed him before James could get him down the stairs, rough fingers curling around his neck and slamming him up against the wall. He cried out with shock, vision going a little fuzzy with how hard Law cracked his head against it. He was sure he felt the plaster give a little with the force. He only had one foot balanced on the ball of his foot on the ground, the other hanging uselessly over the first step, and he scrambled at the wall with his tied hands for a hold that didn’t exist as Law held him in place and leaned close again.

“If you’re lying to me, fool’s gold,” Law said, so quiet Aleks didn’t think anyone else would be able to hear him, beginning to squeeze until he couldn’t breathe at all. “I’m gonna start chopping off bits off and Wilson won't get you out of it again. Understand?”

Aleks tried to nod or say something, but Law’s hand was so strong and he wouldn’t let up, squeezing tighter and tighter. Aleks dug his fingers along the wall, trying to find _something_ to brace himself against. His face went slowly hotter and hotter, both feet on tiptoes on the landing to try to get Law to let _go_ so he could breathe again. His chest burned like fire, like he was being stabbed by his own rib. In his panic, he tried to kick Law but he had to immediately put his foot back down to keep him supported, the loss of it almost sending him sideways down the stairs. Not knowing what else to do, Aleks just tried to calm himself down and, failing that, was preparing himself to take the fall down the stairs in exchange for a hard kick to the groin, when Law let him go.

He did fall, his stomach swooping, his first deep breath causing another intense bout of stabbing pain that had him too distracted to try to catch himself - but James was there. He smacked into his chest and felt a steadying arm drop around his shoulders, keeping the both of them from tumbling straight to the ground at the bottom of the steps.

“He won’t be any use if you kill him,” James repeated seriously, helping Aleks to stand up straight. Aleks didn’t try to add anything, busy with just breathing and blinking back involuntary tears. “Jakob, grab the rest of the bags. Anna, you’re driving. My team and I can transport him to the field so he doesn’t tempt you.”

“You’re too soft, Wilson,” Law shoved against Aleks’ back, sending him rocking back down two steps and right back into James’ arms again, “Don’t tell me a few weeks of play pretend made you _sensitive_.”

“No,” James snapped back, “A few weeks of waiting for the Fakes to SWAT us has made me fucking edgy and if you kill him before we find this ring, we’re fucked. Come on, Free, keep walking.”

He managed to situate himself between Law and Aleks, guided Aleks down the steep stairs as fast as they could go and yanked the garage door open. The SUV was parked, the garage door still open; no neighbors were out but James obviously didn’t want to take any chances because he wrenched the back door open and had Aleks curled up in the back before any more than fifteen seconds had passed. His duffle and the bag James had been packing when Law showed up were tossed in behind him just a short pause later and the door shut without ceremony.

He could see the lot of them talking through the tinted windows, James motioning to Anna and Jakob to get in the front while he walked around to the back. He watched Law and his two guys go to join the other two guys that James must have seen when he’d looked out of the window earlier, watched them all get into Law’s car and pull out of the drive so the SUV could back out too. James joined him in the back, turned to watch, too, while Anna carefully reversed down the slight incline, followed the curve of the cul-de-sac, and then onto the street.

It wasn’t until they were on their way that James finally took his eyes off Law’s car and turned to Aleks.

“Turn around,” he said quietly and Aleks didn’t argue. He turned around so James could get to the cords, didn’t flinch when James cursed and then reached into Aleks’ pocket for his knife. It seemed like a lifetime ago that Michael had given the blade to him. He would be happy that it had seen so much use. James sawed through the cords, careful of his skin, and his shoulders ached and pulsed even more when the cords finally snapped but he didn’t hesitate to rotate his arms in front of him with a loud, relieved groan. Making the noise hurt his throat and chest both, but it still somehow felt so good to vocalize his relief at having his arms free.

He held them against his chest, let himself feel it for a second, and then turned back around and slapped James Wilson as hard as he fucking could across the face

“Holy _shit_ , dude!” Jakob yelled from the front seat, turning around to see them, but James took it without a grimace.

The blow had been mostly glancing, because Aleks’ arms were _weak_ and he was injured and shaken, but it had been forceful enough to turn James’ head and, already, Aleks could see that there would be a mark.

“I told you,” He said with a rasp, but James was already nodding.

“I deserved that,” James admitted and that, at least, appeased Aleks just a little. At least James was _admitting_ it. He hadn’t tried to beat around the bush or place blame really, and that was a point in his favor. James rubbed his cheek a little, finally flinching at his own touch, but he didn't look angry about it and that was the only thing that stopped Aleks from lashing out again.

“You did,” Aleks agreed, shaking his hand out a little. He checked his wrists, bruised and bleeding in a few spots, deep indents that he could easily feel when he ran his thumbs over them, “That man is an _ogre_. Give me your phone.”

“Polite as ever,” Jakob grumbled from the front seat, still looking a little sour, but James ignored him and produced his phone without a complaint.

“Call Asher and catch him up, Jake,” James handed Aleks his phone as he spoke, “I don’t know if he can get the jet going as fast as we need it going. Having it on when Law gets there may be bad news.”

Aleks didn’t wait to see if Jakob did as told. He was already tapping in Gavin’s number, praying that Gavin hadn’t burned it yet, and then holding it up to his ear while it rang.

He only had to wait a few seconds before he heard the click of someone answering, a brief pause and then, “Hello?”

“Michael,” He said, trying to sound normal, “Hey, Michael.”

He heard Michael breathe in hard, could _see_ what his face must look like in a way that made his chest hurt separately from the rib trauma.

“Aleks, Jesus, you’re alive,” Michael responded, sounding weak with relief, “Are you okay? Where are you? Who took you, we’ll come get you right now,”

“I’m -” Aleks had to take a few shallow breaths to keep himself under control, tried to center himself so he wouldn’t burst into tears. That was his _family_. He’d missed them so much, and there had been a small part of him that, for the last forty-five minutes, had been scared that the next time they saw him it would be in a body bag. “I’m okay. They’ve been...taking care of me. It was more of a vacation than a hostage situation, really.” he tried to laugh and it was a little strained but at least it was a laugh.

“Not the time for downplaying, Free,” Michael raised his voice a little, “Where _are_ you?”

“Colorado,” Aleks shot a glance toward James, “Somewhere in...Denver?”

“We’re headed for an airfield about ten minutes out of city limits,” James informed him, loud enough for Michael to hear, “Take off in...maybe an hour to an hour and a half.”

“Did you hear that?” Aleks asked just to confirm, but he could already hear moving around on the other line, like Michael was standing up.

“Yeah, I heard. Who is that?”

“Uh, that’s...that’s James. He’s helping me get home.”

“Did he help you get away?”

“Not...exactly.”

“Aleks!”

“He and his team are the ones who took me,” Aleks gave in, “But they’re taking me home now! Once Law’s taken care of -”

“ _Law_ is there!? Is that _Nova_!?”

“Who is Nova?” Aleks turned his glare on James again, “Do you have a _codename_?”

“That...is a very old nickname,” James shifted, uncomfortable, “Is that, um. Mogar?”

“Aleks,” Michael said slowly, “Give the phone to him.”

“He wants to talk to you,” Aleks offered the phone but James was already shaking his head.

“No,” he said, voice a little high, “That’s okay.”

“He said no,” Aleks told Michael, who let out a string of angry curses Aleks was sure James could hear from the other side of the back seat.

“We know who took you,” Michael told him, sounding furious and assuring all at once, “We’ve been looking since we found out you were missing. I could wring Gavin’s _neck_ for giving you that stupid _fucking_ ring.”

“It’s okay!” Aleks swallowed, feeling...warm. He’d known they were looking, but it felt good to have it confirmed, “It’s okay. I won’t give it to him and, uh. I promise I’ll be home soon. I’m sorry if you guys were, like. Freaking out or whatever.”

“Don’t fucking apologize,” Michael snapped at him, “This isn’t your fault. They took out your security team, _we_ should be apologizing. I knew you should have come with us, _damn it_. Gavin’s been tearing the city apart looking for you. We figured you might be in Colorado because Nova was involved, but Denver is fucking big. We have people there now, I'm pissed they didn't find you by now.”

A suspicious eye on James’ guilty expression, Aleks asked, “You think Colorado was his idea?”

“It’s where his old crew operated,” Michael explained, “We went to visit once or twice. You were there, I’m pretty sure, for a short deal Gavin had to do with their leader, Kootra. We were gonna bring them into the syndicate but they imploded before the deal went through.”

“Huh,” Aleks nodded a little, “Well, he’s...helping me now, so -”

“What does he want for it?”

“I’ll...explain when I get home, okay? I just...I just wanted to call and tell you I was okay, that I was coming back. And that I’m sorry I caused you guys any trouble.”

“Shut the fuck up, what the hell did I say about apologizing?” Michael dropped his voice, “Be careful, okay? Gavin’s with Fakehaus right now, I’ll call him and tell him what’s going on. If you can text us an address, Meg and Mariel are in Denver running the search for you. If you can get somewhere, they’ll be there. And we’ll be there in a few hours.”

“Meg’s in Denver?” Aleks, eyes going wide, met James’ own wide-eyed look. She’d been so close, this whole time? “Seriously?”

“She’s been hunting Nova’s old haunts, looking for anything that could lead us to you. Fool fuckin’ him for coming to his old stomping grounds with new jobs.”

“I...yeah. Yeah, I’ll send an address. Right? A car’s better than a jet?” He asked James, who gave a quick nod, “We’ll send it. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Yeah,” Michael agreed, sounding firm, “Soon. And tell Nova I’m gonna kick his ass.”

“I will,” Aleks smiled and pulling the phone from his ear, ended the call with his thumb and then just stared down at the screen for a few seconds. He was so close to being home. “He, uh. Said he was gonna kick your ass.”

“I heard,” James grimaced, scratched at his beard for a few seconds while he thought. “So Dollface is in town, huh? That...might make our jobs easier. You still got Asher on the line, Jakob?”

Jakob handed a phone back without response, which James plucked from his fingers and head up to his own ear, “Ash? Hey. Jake catch you up? Good, we’ve got a new plan.”

He took his phone back from Aleks, started to type out a text while he spoke, and Aleks should have been paying attention, he _was_ , but also...Meg was _here_. He would be home in just a few hours. He would see Gavin and the others, Mishka, his bed, would be back in his apartment. Things would go back to normal.

He might not ever see James again.

Their last kiss would be the one he snuck before going upstairs last night. The way James had been touching him finally made sense, and it brought his elation down.

He reached up to grab his locket, realized it wasn’t there. It was still in James’ pocket.

“Did you get that, Aleks?” James touched his knee, forcing him back into paying attention and he snapped back to it with a frown.

“No.” He admitted, but James just handed Jakob’s phone back to him and recapped. Maybe he figured getting his face crushed into a wall had rattled him a little.

“I sent the address to the airfield and the response was a seventy-five minute ETA. You and me are gonna get Law into the jet and Asher, Anna, and Jakob are gonna take out his team while he’s with us. If we don’t have to worry about taking off, we can focus on taking him out.”

“He’s a crime boss! You can’t just take him out, he has _friends_.”

“We can handle ourselves,” Anna spoke up for the first time, sounding a little amused, “Trust us, Aleks. This isn’t our first rodeo. It’s not even our first time changing sides.”

“Italy,” Jakob said with disgust, and she laughed - bright and relaxed, like they weren’t being tailed by a carload of armed men ready to shoot them all at the drop of Law’s hat.

Aleks wasn’t reassured. But it wasn’t like he could argue - they were doing this for him. There was no other option that didn’t end with his open throat.  

Not knowing what else to do, he wrapped his arms around his chest to support his aching side and looked out of the window.

If, at some point during the ride, he let his fingers brush James’ on the seat, let James slowly twine them together into a loose hold, he didn’t look away from the passing scenery. But he didn’t pull away, either.

-

They managed to hit some traffic, turning what would have been a forty-five minute drive into an hour’s drive and, even if it got them an angry call from Law, there was nothing they could do to speed the drive up without drawing attention to themselves and Law had to let it happen. Aleks spent most of it thinking about Michael’s voice, about how James’ fingers felt warm and comforting even after all this, how he wanted his dog.

It was a familiar airfield, even if he’d only seen it twice, when they did finally reach it. There was another car waiting there and, for a brief moment, Aleks thought it was Meg until he saw three more men step out wearing the same suits that Law’s guys from the house were.

“That puts them up to seven,” Aleks said quietly, fingers tightening around James’.

“Seems a little unfair for them,” Anna joked, but Aleks could see that her knuckles were white where they gripped the steering wheel. Asher was standing next to the jet, hands casually in his pockets, but Aleks could read the tension in his shoulders even if he couldn’t see his eyes through his dark sunglasses perched on his nose. It reminded Aleks of the first time he’d seen him, the lot of them in matching suits and glasses.

Now, it wasn’t quite so formal; none of them were wearing blazers or jackets, Anna’s dress shirt sleeves rolled up high on her upper arms and James’ unbuttoned and rolled up to the elbows while Jakob had forgone a dress shirt all together and just wore a short sleeve white button up. Their slacks still matched, but Aleks had a feeling that they’d all just gone with the most comfortable thing to wear in a fight rather than trying to look professional. All three of them had tied their hair up to keep it out of the way and Aleks knew for a fact that all three of them were packing at their sides. He could only assume Asher was doing the same. He hoped.

“Don’t go easy just ‘cause you feel bad,” James joked back, taking his hand away from Aleks’ to pull his gun and check it quickly, “I’m gonna have this on you, Aleks. Just stay calm, don’t make any sudden movements, follow my lead, take cover in the jet as soon as you can. Dollface should be here soon.”

Aleks nodded, not sure exactly what to say. _Be careful_ sounded ridiculous, but it was all he wanted to shout. He was still furious and betrayed and hurt, he still wanted to punch James with every ounce of strength he had, but...James was doing _this_. He’d turned over and he’d planned on bringing Aleks back home safely before Law even came. Not everything had been fake, even if it was a lie.

Anna pulled up a good distance from the jet, not too far from the road and Law’s car went a little bit closer but stopped soon after and Law and his guys piled out without pause.

“Wait here,” James looked around at them, “You’ll hear the signal. Sixty seconds.”

Anna and Jakob nodded and then James was pushing his door open and getting out, motioning for Aleks to follow with the gun.

The sun was bright, a warm glare in the crisp air that would have been enjoyable if they weren’t in this particular situation. He’d pulled his hoodie sleeves down to cover the wounds on his wrists and he kept his arms around his chest but he didn’t struggle when James grabbed his shoulder and started pushing him forward, toward the jet. Law and two of his guys, the same two from the house, joined them as they walked.

“You untied his hands,” Law commented, annoyed, and grabbed one of Aleks’ arms, wrenched it away from his body to pull down the sleeve and reveal his wrist, “Doesn’t look like he was gonna lose ‘em to me.”

“How’s he gonna get the ring if his hands are behind his back, Law?” James stopped, too, “Are we really gonna stand here and argue about my decisions when we’re three yards from the jet?”

“You’re testing me, Wilson,” Law said darkly, and then used Aleks’ arm to yank him suddenly enough that he lost his balance and fell into the dust. He tried not to land on his side but it was a futile effort and he couldn’t even scream. Just laid in the dirt for a few seconds and tried to work through the pain of it. God, his ribs were going to take months to recover from this.

“Get the door open!” Law raised his voice and Aleks sat up enough to see a few of Law’s guys and Asher start to fuss with the jet door. Law made Aleks sit at his feet the whole time they waited, not bothering to even look at him. James didn’t look at him either, face serious and stoic, and Aleks tried to keep himself blank, too. He wasn’t scared - James was right there, Meg and Mariel would be here any minute; but he was nervous. What was he supposed to do when they were in the jet? James was apparently just trusting in Aleks’ improv and, while he appreciated the trust, he knew exactly where that ring was and it wasn’t anywhere in that jet.

Finally, the door was dropped and the stairs locked in place, which led to Law yanking him until he could get his feet under him and then pushing him up the stairs. The two men at his side followed them, James presumably at the back, and Aleks just had to remind himself that he wasn’t alone as he ducked into the jet and looked around.

It was the same narrow thing as it was before. Looking at it now, it was obvious that it wasn’t a Fake jet. Not only was it missing any sort of calling card, it had no touches of them or any of their affiliates and no one Aleks knew would pass up leaving some sort of mark on a jet like this. And none of the Fake crews would want something so skinny; no one could pack this thing with any sort of drugs or weapons because of all the seats, and the fourteen seats were nice but fourteen was a weird number for a Fake jet. Too many for the usual number of crew that flew together, not enough for any one crew to come together, the cabin not nearly wide enough to be the kind of jet to hold any sort of meeting in the sky. This was totally different from their style, even as an unmarked jet.

Law pushed him forward so that he stumbled down the aisle, catching himself against one of the chairs, and he took his chance to gather himself and figure out some sort of plan. The right side of the jet, where he and James had sat, would be the best place to buckle down in the case of some sort of shootout. With pairs of seats facing each other, it would give him plenty of space to hide with protection on both sides should one of the gunmen get to the other side of him. The left side only had single chairs facing each other and, while it made it possible for two people to pass each other in the aisle, it would be a tight squeeze and wouldn’t give him much protection at all. He looked over his shoulder to see where everyone was standing and was relieved to find James in a good position. Law’s men had both taken spots with their backs to James and Law had his eyes set on Aleks instead of between the both of them.

He’d started counting down the second they’d entered the jet so, when Law made a gesture with his blade and growled, “Well? Go get it!” at him, he obediently went to the farthest section of four seats. He ducked down on his knees and crawled between the seats, out of sight of all of them hopefully, and started to unscrew the vent under the chair. It would give him something to do that looked productive as he reached the forty second mark.

He had managed one screw and was picking at the other, keeping his eyes on every pair of shoes in the jet, when he jaw James’ familiar skater shoes shift and knew to duck down and brace himself.

He was right to do it. The gun was _loud_ , a _pop-pop_ double tap that dropped both of Law’s guys fast. Aleks saw them start to fall and quickly shut his eyes, not wanting to see their faces or any wounds. Not even a second later, he heard echoing shots outside; _pop-pop...pop...pop-pop-pop_ , confused yelling and one man’s agonized yell as he was presumably hit.

“Wilson,” Law said, voice dripping with fury, “You traitor.”

“Sorry about that,” James agreed, sounding genuine enough.

“I thought you were all about finishing the job. Wha’d he offer you? More money? Or was the tail just that good?”

“I don’t discuss current business with previous clients,” James demurred, “Aleksandr, go over the seats. He’s got a gun so stay out of reach.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t if I were you,” Law said in warning, sounding vicious, but James just hummed in response.

“The second you take that gun off me, I’ll kill you dead. Aleks, come on, fast like,”

“Have you ever climbed with a broken rib, James?” Aleks snapped back, taking a quick second to gather himself before he slowly started to stand up. The scene before him wasn’t exactly pretty - the bodies on the ground, the left side of the cabin splattered in blood, James and Law both obviously not having escaped the same pattern of gore. James hadn’t been kidding - Law did have a gun, pointed at James same as James’ was pointed at him.

James had a hand out waiting for him. He kept himself as far from Law as he could as he started to climb over the seats toward James, holding his breath to avoid jostling his ribs any more than he already had. It was painful, but nothing he couldn’t handle, and Law must have believed James about shooting him because he didn’t make a move toward Aleks or even look at him. James didn’t look at him either, eyes steady and trained on Law even when Aleks used his hand to balance himself over the last seat and then didn’t let go.

“Jesus,” Law scowled, “It _was_ the tail. You let that dime store glitter whore seduce you.”

“I’ll have you know my glitter is top shelf,” Aleks replied haughtily, switching from James to Law to the dusty ground he could see outside quickly as he tried to get a hold of the situation. Two guns, the occasional potshot from outside. Not a decisive victory, then. He could only hope Asher had found some cover and no one on their side had got hurt.

“Get out of here,” James nudged him toward the door, still not looking away from Law, “Your ride should be here, soon. Be careful.”

“I can’t just leave you here,” Aleks dropped his voice, holding onto his hand a little tighter. He’d always liked James’ hands; warm and rough-skinned but confident. They were sweaty as his now, and it was the only sign of nervousness that he could find in James.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll...I’ll see you in LS, yeah? Later. Ein’s still allowed over, right?”

“Yeah,” Aleks said, because it was a lie but it was a lie he wanted to believe, “Yeah, she is. I’m not even kind of mad at her.”

“She’s never done anything wrong in her life, so,” James smiled, slow and big, that smug smile that Aleks wanted to punch and kiss at the same time, “We’ll go out on a real date. Not a diner, maybe. You can introduce me to your family, I hear they’re the hot shit.”

“They are.” Aleks swallowed, leaned forward to press his forehead to James’ shoulder, the closest thing to goodbye that he wanted to give, “They’d like you, probably. Aside from the whole kidnapping thing.”

“You steal a guy from his family one time and no one ever forgets about it,” James teased, quiet, and then dropped his hand and pushed him toward the door again. “ _Go_ , Aleks. I...you know.”

“Yeah,” Aleks nodded, made himself take a step back, and then another, “Yeah, me too. Fuck you, Law,”

“I’ll be coming for you soon, fool’s gold,” Law hurled back, but Aleks let it roll off of him like water. He peeked out of the jet to take in the scene, instead; two groups of people ducked behind cars - Anna, Jakob, and Asher farther away with the SUV, three dead bodies in the space between the cars, the other two ducked behind their smaller ride. Aleks couldn’t see either group clearly, but Asher and Anna both popped up and Asher started to lay down some strategic cover fire while Anna motioned Aleks over with her gun and Aleks stumbled down the stairs to follow her call.

He made it over safely, even with his bruised shin and injured ribs making him slower than normal, and ducked around the SUV to take stock and give them an update.

Jakob was the only one injured, a wound on his thigh he was using his hands to pressurize.

“Fuck,” Aleks knelt down, looking him over quickly, “Shit, you need something better than that,”

“Any suggestions?” Jakob asked, voice high and irritated, but Aleks ignored his tone and cracked the SUV door open to snag his bag and pull it out and onto the dirt.

“Here,” He unzipped it and dug around but there was nothing absorbent enough for his purposes so he ended up stripping off his hoodie and handing it over, “James got the two cronies but he and Law are at a standstill.”

“He’ll be fine,” Jakob accepted the hoodie, balled the material up to press back against the wound with a hiss of pain, “I’m _fine_ , by the way, not that you asked. It’s just a scratch.”

“I figured,” Aleks grinned a little, “Otherwise you’d probably be yelling at me a little more.”

“Don’t be funny right now,” Jakob rolled his eyes at him, pulled a face, “I’m pissed as hell at you _and_ our fearless leader, so just shut the fuck up and don't start being likeable.”

“Well, that’s kinda the opposite of what I am,” Aleks started to joke, but the rumble of an approaching car cut him off. He turned sharply, heart in his throat, and was relieved to see a familiar head of purple hair and a small upper body poking out of a sun roof, a gun much too large for her nestled on one shoulder.

Meg.

He could see Mariel behind the wheel, Tyler in the passenger side and he almost jumped up in his excitement, heart thumping so hard it was almost all he could hear.

He was going home.

“Aleks!” Meg yelled, waving her arm wildly like he wasn’t staring right at her. She must have seen something behind them because she stopped waving only a few seconds later, took aim with her gun, and let rip a solid ten shots in a matter of seconds toward the opposite car. Each one hit with such a massive sound that Aleks was suddenly worried about her accidentally hitting the jet with James still inside.

“Meg,” he breathed out, relieved, as the car came to a leisurely stop and she climbed out of the top and hopped down, dropping the gun in favor of meeting him in a tight, hard hug. It hurt, fuck, it hurt, but he couldn’t help but nearly pick her up off her feet, so relieved to see her that he had to laugh. She hugged him back just as tight, long nails carding through his hair a few times before she pushed away to get a look at his face. Her smile darkened as she took in the bruising and cuts, noticed the way he was cradling his side.

“They hurt you.”

“No, it was - it was Law, they’re trying to save me. They _did_ save me.”

“Good.” Meg glanced over her shoulder, “I wouldn’t want to kill _that_ many people today. Come one, get in the car, we have to go. Boy’s gonna kill me if I don’t get you home.”

“James -” he started, looking over his shoulder at the jet, “Can you - he’s with Law, he saved me, can you help him?”

“We’ll see what we can do,” she said, and started to shove him toward the car. She snagged his duffle on the way without hesitation, having helped him pack it in the first place, and he let himself be pushed. He looked over his shoulder though, at Jakob with Tyler knelt by his side with some emergency bandages and Asher and Anna laying cover fire for them before he was made to get into the back seat and had the door shut. He watched, worried, as Meg pulled a smaller pistol from her hip and returned to the SUV to speak to Anna.

“Hey, babe,” Mariel said, smiling at him through the rearview mirror, “Rough couple weeks, huh?”

“I...I guess,” He swallowed, nervously watching the jet.

Mariel started to reply, but something else caught her attention and, instead, she rolled her window down to warn them, “Hey, beautiful! We got incoming company coming from the west!”

Aleks shot to the other side of the car to try to see what Mariel was seeing and spotted the two speeding cars with ease, panic setting in, “Reinforcements, they called for more guys!”

Tyler glanced up from where he was wrapping Jakob’s leg and then looked at Meg and held out a hand for her to toss the gun she’d brought along toward him. He caught it easily, leaned it against the car and went back to wrapping without a change in expression at all. He and Mariel rarely switched up their looks; smiling and cheerful, stoic and dark.

Meg fast walked back to the car quickly, nodding at Mariel as she approached and Mariel got out without complaint and let Meg take her place.

“Okay, sweetcheeks,” Mariel winked at him through the window, still good-natured and smiling, “Since you asked so nice, we’ll try to keep everyone alive.”

“Thank you,” Aleks managed, his heart slowing a little bit. Black cat suits and beautiful smiles, the three of them were the best special ops team Aleks knew of. They'd never let Geoff or Burnie down before.

“Now, let’s get you out of here,” Meg waved at Tyler and blew a kiss at Mariel and then reversed the car hard, switched gears smoothly and went in a hard semi-circle to take the car back out toward the road.

He was just relaxing still watching through the rear window, when a _pop-pop-pop_ sounded again, loud but muffled, from the jet.

There was a moment where his heart was frozen, when nothing happened. And then saw James duck out of the door, hand going to the rail of the stairs, and let himself smile just a little.

And then James straightened up to reveal his hand pressed to his belly, shirt stained so red Aleks only knew it was white because he’d seen it before. He was still holding his gun but it fell from limp fingers and, as the car continued to pull away, Aleks watched him take another step out of the jet, watched his knees give out as he stumbled down the stairs almost head first, disappearing from sight behind the SUV.

“James,” he got out, “James - Meg, we have to turn around, we have to -”

“You know I can’t, Aleks,” Meg said gently, not taking her eyes off the road in front of them. Aleks didn’t bother trying to argue, went for the door and realized too late that they were already locked. He shoved ineffectively at the window, turned back around to watch helplessly.

“ _JAMES_!”

The airfield passed out of sight.

-

Meg drove for hours. He wasn’t entirely sure how many but the sun was in a much differently part of the sky by the time she stopped.

They were in a different airfield, gated with a passcode to get in, and she parked in front of a clean-cut building with hangers and expensive looking planes safely tucked away. There was a familiar golden jet already running with the stairs prepared for boarding.

She didn’t say anything getting out or opening his door, but he let her help him out of the car and they slowly walked to the jet, his eyes unseeing. He just kept thinking about that last image of James, standing and then falling down the stairs and out of sight. He should have kissed him one last time, maybe. Made him leave the jet with him. Refused to get into the car until everything had been settled.

And Jakob? Was he okay? Had the reinforcements overwhelmed Anna and Asher and Mariel while Tyler was making sure Jakob wouldn’t bleed out? Had Law survived?

 _You know_ , James had said. But _did_ Aleks know? He thought he had, in that moment.

He reached up to grab his locket and was met with empty air.

He’d left it in James’ pocket.

He let Meg lead him into the jet without saying anything, blinking hard every few seconds as he fought back his emotions.

“I’m gonna take a look at your ribs,” She finally said, helping him sit on one of the chairs and sitting on the one across from him. He let her pull his tank off, crumpled it into a ball and set it on the seat next to him and raised his arms up for her to press against his ribs a little.

She touched him gently, fingers warm and soft, moved along his ribs carefully feeling. She stopped, though, so suddenly that it was enough to make him open his eyes to look at her face - shocked, angry - and then look down at where she was touching.

It was one of the marks James must have left behind, a healing love bite that was obviously just that.

“Aleks,” She said slowly, sounding heartbroken, but he shook his head and covered the mark with his palm, swallowing.

“No, don’t - it wasn’t like that, Meg. It was, we were - it was consensual, okay? I...we…” He had to lean over then, cover his eyes with his hands because he couldn’t stop thinking about James straightening up and then crumpling back down the stairs. “We were…”

“Hey, it’s okay,” She promised sitting next to him instead and putting her arm around his shoulders. She pulled him into her side and she was so small but she was familiar and warm and he exhaled sharply and hid his face in her shoulder while his eyes stung and burned. “Nothing’s broken,” she went on, running her fingers through the hair at the nap of his neck, “Looks to be bruised up but you’ll live. Be right back on top where you belong. Boy’s gonna be so happy to see you, he was worried as hell.”

He nodded a little, sniffling as the jet started to take off. He ended up pressed against the back of the seat, the two of them holding onto each other as they went higher and higher until they slowly evened out again. They didn’t let go of each other until things were stable again, and then she stood up with a kiss to his forehead and handed him his tank back.

Just a few more hours.

-

The jet landed on top of Geoff’s building. Geoff didn’t usually like things landing on his building, he said it was loud and freaked him out to have a plane on top of him, but Aleks didn’t really question why they would do it this time around.

Meg had found him another jacket, one he must have left on the jet at some point or another, and it was a little too nice to go with his sweatpants but he didn’t much care. Just wrapped it around himself and used it to hide his face for most of the flight. He kept it around himself even though it was relatively warm when the jet door was opened and Meg grabbed his bag for him so he wouldn’t have to unwrap his arms from his chest. She settled a hand on his shoulder, squeezed a little, and then went out first without another word.

He followed, after a second of breathing.

Jack and Ray were waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs and Aleks...for just a moment, couldn’t do anything but stare at them and just take them in.

“Hey, dumbass,” Ray called up, opening his arms up, “Come give us some sugar, we’ve been worried sick,”

He laughed, wet and weak, and nearly tripped himself to get down to them, where he fell into Ray’s chest with his own arms open. Jack pulled them both into a big bear hug, warm and comforting and Ray squeezed him just enough that it wasn’t painful but it was firm and Aleks felt _safe_.

“The others are inside,” Jack rubbed his back, firm and caring, “Burnie forbid Gavin from going near the roof until you were home.”

“He's clumsy when he's just being normal, but he’s _clumsy_ when he's mad,” Ray agreed, pulling away to get a look at him, “You look fucked up, my guy.”

“Thanks,” Aleks swallowed, looking down at himself. He wasn't so bad, really. Better off than James or Jakob.

“Hey,” Ray continued when he went quiet again, nudging his chin up with a finger, “Turn that frown upside down, dude. You're home, now.”

“Yeah,” Aleks nodded a tiny bit, voice small. It was almost overwhelming. He was home.

“Where _is he_!? No, I won’t _wait inside,_ let me see him right bloody right now, Geoffrey!” he heard, muffled, through the roof door. The whole roof was a landing pad, even as unused as it went, and there was only one entrance into the building itself - a cracked door in the middle of the roof that Aleks didn’t have to turn to know who that was.

“You’d better tell him about your rib before he gets to you,” Jack warned as they both let him go so he could turn around. He didn’t...really consider that, though. Just started walking, and then walking faster, faster, until he was pretty sure he was jogging toward the door without really thinking about it.

He managed to get to the door just as Gavin was shoving it open and it nearly smacked into him. He caught it before it brained him, pushed it out of the way so that they were face to face, and then just - looked.

Gavin was exhausted, his makeup obviously a day or two old and the bags under his eyes not hidden at all. He wasn’t wearing anything fancy, just some slacks and a silk button up but he’d forgone any of his usual glamor and glitz. Even his hair was limp in some places and sticking up in others from running his hands through it.

“Aleks,” Gavin said, a whoosh of air leaving him so hard that his shoulders curled in on themselves.

“Hey, Gavin,” Aleks replied, voice cracking, “Hey, I, um. Sorry, I. I lost the ring. And I just, I’m sorry, you were right, and I should have listened, I’m -”

“Shut up,” Gavin said stiffly, reaching out for him so fast it was more of a blur than anything. He grabbed him by his shoulders, tugged him into a swift, hard hug that Aleks collapsed into without care for anyone watching. Everything overwhelmed him all at once and he couldn’t do anything except finally let himself fall apart - the terror and the grief and the pain of his injuries welling into big, fat tears that soaked into Gavin’s shirt as he cried. Gavin held the back of his head with one hand, hugging him around his shoulders with his other arm and shushed him as he sobbed and all Aleks could do was hold onto his shirt and cry. If someone asked, he wouldn’t even be able to say _why_ he was crying. Just that he needed to or he would explode.

He felt warm wetness in his hair, Gavin pressing his face against his head, and the two of them stood there together, reunited even if Aleks was still torn apart inside, and Aleks let himself grieve while Gavin held him just like he had when Aleks was a kid.

He was home and, yet, he still felt so hollow.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHH guys look!!! the last!!! chapter!!!!! 
> 
> i have...............so many ppl i need to thank honestly. all of u. every person who talked to me for the last like. six months. jesus.
> 
> but, to name a few; kenn (@allrighthello), phoe (@romeosregrets), and tay (@nealinator), who helped me SO MUCH for the first half of this dumb fucking fic, and then gina @(myriadus) and jess (@sippingandshipping) who came in on the second half, and jackie (@hrtbnr), who batted clean up and beta'ed the last chapter for me just like SO FUCKING WELL. i really could not have finished this thing without you guys to back me up and i hope you know how much i LOVE AND APPRECIATE EVERY ONE OF YOU.  
> and thank you to the people reading!!! who stuck around for like. three hiatus', two of me Disppearing for awhile, TWO finals weeks, and a whole month of me writing a completely different fic after posting like the first two chapters of this. 
> 
> also, id like to thank the people who MADE THINGS!!! FOR THIS AU!!!! INCREDIBLE, TALENTED, BEAUTIFUL, LOVES OF MY LIFE!!!!! i appreciate u so much and i hope u also know how much i love and adore u. here are the links to everything i could find. i THINK i got it all BUT if i left you out i PROMISE its not because i didnt appreciate your gift, its just that i have a terrible memory and only found these bc i went thru my diamond boy tag on tumblr :( let me know if i did and i will add you to this list for everyone to see!!
> 
> [THIS piece](https://hrtbnr.tumblr.com/post/172322210648/inspired-by-the-latest-chapter-of-pyrite-which) and [T H I S](https://hrtbnr.tumblr.com/post/172400324918/hey-everyone-im-still-wildly-obsessed-with) piece by @hrtbnr, who does just fucking AMAZING art  
> [THIS!!!](https://ragecutie.tumblr.com/post/172381113909/this-edit-is-based-on-cockbite-fic-pyrite-i) by @ragecutie, who has set out to ruin my life and make me cry at every opportunity with their vid edits  
> and [HOLY SHIT THIS](http://darkkkun.tumblr.com/post/166660415718/youre-a-piece-of-fucking-work-hm-but-you) by @darkkkun, who has such a beautiful style and who im pretty sure did this in lke five minutes bc i remmber it went up SO FAST and i lost my damn mind over it
> 
> id like to just say that this was a really really fun au to write, and im glad that you guys were willing to follow me on this journey lmao m so sorry for the long waits in between chapters but.......here we are friends. i hope you enjoy the ending <3

Aleks got his first girlfriend when he was sixteen.

He’d been a little older than most of his peers had been when they started dating but, to be fair, his upbringing had been radically different. To him, most people were tools and it had taken him a long time to get comfortable enough with his life to see people as anything other than that. To be honest, he hadn’t been capable of seeing them as anything other than that when he was sixteen, either.

The break-up came a week later, when Aleks had found out she’d kissed someone else at a party he’d been too sick to attend.

Gavin had come into his room that night, ice cream in one hand and a set of keys in the other.

“Heartbreak is hard,” He said, once they were under Aleks’ blankets, ice cream carton between them and The Birdcage playing on screen. Aleks just frowned at him, spoonful of vanilla almost in his mouth.

“I’m not heartbroken.” He said, “I didn’t even like her.”

“Oh, well. I thought you were dating?”

“We were, I guess. Not really. We went to lunch together once but she was boring.”

Gavin chuckled, amused, “Then why did you agree to go out with her, love?”

“Her dad’s a business guy Geoff works with.” Aleks shrugged, finally eating his spoonful, “Couldn’t exactly say no, could I?”

“Of course you could’ve!” Gavin squawked, sitting up, “Aleks, you can _always_ say no.”

“If I always said no, then I’d never hang out with anyone but you guys,” Aleks stayed reclined on his pillows, shoving his hair out of his eyes without really thinking about it, “People are stupid. I dunno how you handle talking to them so much”

“They are,” Gavin slowly settled back next to Aleks, picked up his spoon again but didn’t use it just yet, “But what I meant was you don’t ever have to do anything you don’t want to do. Not for Geoff, not for me, not for anyone, love.”

“I guess,” Aleks shrugged again, staring resolutely at his spoon. He didn’t know how to say he didn’t want to cause any of them trouble, without actually having to say the words. .

“Just,” Gavin continued, “Be careful from now on. With who you choose to say ‘yes’ to. Heartbreak is hard, like I said.”

Aleks scoffed, shoving a resolute mouthful of ice cream into his face, “Yeah, right. Like I’d ever be dumb enough to fall for something like that.”

Gavin laughed, his squeaky _you’re so cute_ laugh, “That’s what we all say, love. But listen to me, on this if nothing else. You can be the hardest person in town but you aren’t immune to everything. Look at us, huh? One look at those puppy eyes and you had me hooked, and I don’t even like kids, do I?”

“That’s because _I_ am lovable and everyone who meets me thinks I’m great. Other people aren’t nearly as cool as me.”

“Of course,” It was Gavin’s turn to scoff, but he didn’t contradict him and just ate more ice cream instead. Robin Williams and Nathan Lane were pretending to be straight against a tree and Aleks had seen this movie so many times that he could mouth along to it that it quickly took over in place of their conversation. He didn’t _forget_ what Gavin said, none of it, he soaked it in like he soaked in every piece of advice Gavin gave him. But he didn’t think it would ever apply to him, either.

He didn’t like people, people didn’t like him, not the _real_ him, and he liked it that way.

-

Gavin didn’t asked questions, and Aleks was grateful. He didn’t want to talk about anything, not yet. Instead, Gavin immediately took him to Caleb to get fixed up. Caleb stitched his cheek, wrapped his wrists to prevent the wounds left behind by the cord from getting infected, and gave him the good shit so he wouldn’t feel a thing from his ribs. And then they collapsed in Gavin’s bed in fresh pajamas and Gavin passed out almost immediately.

But Aleks laid awake, staring at the ceiling and trying hard not to think about anything. He couldn’t sleep, he wasn’t _tired_ , but he also didn’t want to leave the bed. He felt safe now, for real, the way only being _home_ could provide, with Gavin next to him and the rest of the Fakes just outside of the door, but...but.

But he couldn’t _stop_ thinking. Couldn’t turn off his brain; stuck back in Colorado and on a loop, watching James stumble out of that jet, covered in blood. He wanted to sleep, but...there was that _but_ again.

James was a _but._

Had been for a while. Used to be.

But he was dead now.

Aleks closed his eyes.

Gavin had been right, after all. It had taken eight years, but he’d been right.

-

Ray and Ryan picked Mishka up from a doggy daycare the day after Aleks' came home. After James, she was what he thought about most, if he was ever going to see her again, if she was safe and happy with Ein and Joe. They got the call from a place an hour out of Los Santos, where security cameras showed a man with a thick hoodie and sunglasses too big for his face dropping her off. When they showed Aleks the footage, he could recognize Joe under the reflective lenses. The images were too grainy to make out his expression, but Aleks still couldn't bring himself to look for long. Didn't want to see the mourning on his face. James’ eyes had always been softer when he talked about Joe and Ein than when he talked about anything else.

“It’s Joe,” he said, and they all left it at that. Joe had given them a bad number so they’d checked for a chip and found Ryan’s personal number, but that was as far as Aleks wanted to hear. He just...He just didn’t want to deal with it. He had his dog back, that’s all that mattered.

Mishka went from zero to sixty when she saw him for the first time. Barking excitedly, tail wagging so hard it sounded like a whip against Ryan’s thigh as she wiggled out of his arms. He’d been holding her in the elevator, since it wasn’t her favorite place to be, and she used her hind legs to hurl herself from his grasp to the floor and bound to Aleks in the blink of an eye. He was already on his knees, waiting, and caught her when she jumped at him, her tongue finding his face almost immediately and her entire body nearly vibrating out of his arms. She’d made him laugh for the first time in three days.

He was exhausted from two nights of nightmares but spent a long time on the floor with, anyway, feeding her her favorite treats and scratching her back and head while she panted dog breath in his face. His chest wouldn’t let him move much, but she seemed to sense that he was injured and didn’t jump on him after that initial greeting.

Mishka wouldn’t leave his side, even though she usually liked to jump on everyone at least once, and her tail didn't stop wagging for about an hour, not until she was happily nestled against his hip and they were both asleep in bed.

He woke up in the middle of the night with her still curled up against his chest, back-to-back with Gavin, like when he had been sick as a kid, and it was a small comfort that made it infinitely easier to fall back asleep.

-

Caleb and Geoff said it was shock from the trauma he’d been through. That being so depressed after being rescued was normal, especially considering he felt indebted to his kidnappers.

He didn't really want to explain that it was...more than that. It was _stupid_. James had played him thoroughly, he'd won their little game, he’d _hurt_ Aleks. That was something that had previously seemed impossible. It wasn’t something he felt interested in admitting. Not to anyone. Not even to Gavin.

But Aleks still missed him. Three weeks of constant contact and then having to watch, helplessly, as James _died-_

Their last kiss had been in the doorway right before James went to talk to his team. Aleks should have kissed him one more time. Yelled at him louder. Punched him harder.

Gavin didn't ask, but he must have talked to Meg because he didn't push or dig like he usually would have. Aleks appreciated it. He didn't want to hear how it all played out, past that Law had died and James’ team had been rounded up by the Fakes. Free Play were safe, home and uninjured aside from Tyler breaking a finger flipping someone off too hard. Aleks knew Gavin’s wrath must have come down on Law’s crew like a plague of biblical proportions, so he’d quietly asked Geoff to let James’ team go as a favor but that was as far as he wanted to go with it.

He hadn’t asked about James’ body. He just...he didn’t want to know.

-

Instead of going home, Aleks stayed back at the penthouse with the others, alternating between sleeping next to Gavin in his bed or lying awake in the living room, Mishka always dozing in his lap in either case, for about a week. He refused to fall into whatever despair Caleb had predicted for him, so he made himself eat proper meals, didn’t look over his shoulder at every sound no matter how much he wanted to, did the small exercises for his ribs, tried to stop waiting for a familiar laugh or the quiet whispering in the kitchen he’d become accustomed to.

None of them were keen on him leaving the penthouse but he was going to rip his own hair out if he didn’t get it fixed soon, so they came to a compromise. At his request, Ashley cleared her schedule to come over and take care of it. He needed to look like himself again and she knew exactly what that meant, possibly more than he did.

“Thanks for coming, Ash,” He mumbled into her shoulder when she hugged him, and she laughed and set back to look at him.

“Burnie is so pissed he couldn’t make it.” She said, smug, “He’s stuck in Austin for the rest of the month. But I’ll take care of you, sweetie. We can send him selfies when you’re all dolled up to rub it in.”

“I want to be in the selfies!” Gavin demanded, offended, and Aleks sat back to listen to the two of them chatter while she fixed him up.

She gave his hair a trim, keeping it longer at the top and shaving the sides, and buzzed a thin pattern through the dark hair they’d decided to leave behind. Gavin declared it a spa day and it felt familiar and nice to sit next to Ashley while they waited for the bleach to do its work and Gavin buffed the rough edges of Aleks’ nails. They watched trashy TV while she brushed a mask onto his and Gavin’s faces and then he carefully applied it to her’s, and Michael made mixed drinks for them while they let it sit and watched Maury.

Aleks was used to a certain level of pampering but this was beyond that, not that he would turn his nose up. Even Ray brought him a few of his favorite magazines to flip through. Part of him wanted to tell them all to _stop_ , but another part of him reveled in being spoiled. It was how they showed they loved him and he couldn’t help that he liked being validated.

Ashley helped him wash his mask off and then they worked the bleach out of his hair when it was time, very carefully standing in their undergarments in the shower since he couldn’t bend over the sink. It came out platinum, almost white, and it was good to see that color all the way down to his roots again.

After he’d had the time to let his hair settle and they’d waited a few hours for his skin to stop tingling, Gavin set him down in his bathroom and did his makeup. He was slow as he applied liner to his eyes and touched up the thin gash on his cheek so it wasn’t as visible, covered up all the bruises that were still healing and took away the shadows under his eyes from his fitful sleep. When Gavin turned him to look in the mirror, it almost took Aleks’ breath away.

He looked... _normal_. He looked like himself again.

He could have cried, but they hadn’t set the look yet, so he didn’t.

Or, at least, that’s what he told himself even as Gavin dabbed at his cheeks with an understanding smile.

They took selfies, sent them all to Burnie, and then Gavin put on The Birdcage and the crew and Ashley all gathered in the living room for an impromptu movie night. Most of them didn’t even _like_ the movie, but they stuck around until the credits rolled anyway.

He could swear that all of them sang along at the end.

-

He went home on the fifth day. He couldn’t stay away forever, and he wanted to just. Get _over_ it.

“Aleks, you were _kidnapped_ and held hostage for three weeks,” Gavin sighed, still sitting in the driver’s side of his car. They’d had to get a new key made, because James never gave his back, and it was a different color from the last one and didn’t have the same keychain. Aleks kind of hated it. “You won’t be _getting over it_ that quickly.”

“Watch me,” Aleks grumbled, pushing the door open and letting Mishka hop out before he followed her. Jeremy had repacked and returned his emergency bag a day or two ago, so all he had to carry was his box and a small tote of food Jack had prepared for him for the next few days. Aleks would eventually go back to his menu of take-out four times a week and food from Jack the other three, but Jack had made him enough to last at least a week so he’d be eating good for awhile longer.

He heard Gavin sigh as he got out of the car but didn’t stop to argue the point. He’d prove it.

Mishka sat at his side patiently when they reached the garage elevator and Gavin caught up to him while they waited for the doors to open. He didn’t say anything, but he laid a hand on Aleks’ shoulder and Aleks tensed for a second, angry, and then all at once lost it and let his shoulders droop. He didn’t want to fight.

Gavin tugged him against his side and Aleks went easily, fingers cramping with how hard he held onto his box.

“It’ll be okay,” Gavin said quietly, squeezing his arm, and he nodded carefully. It would be okay. He would make it be okay.

The elevator was empty so Mishka trotted after them with only a little hesitation and settled by Aleks’ side again as the elevator started up. The ride was short and quiet and stopped on his floor without incident. He was almost expecting some sort of...climax. Something more satisfying than _this_. A way to wrap up the experience.

Instead, it was just the empty hall that ended in his door. A sight he’d seen hundreds of times. Mishka didn’t hesitate at all to race out of the elevator and to the door, and then back when they weren’t fast enough, and then back to the door, barking all the way. Her tail was wagging again, and he listened to it thud hard against the floor as they approached the door together.

“Can you, uh,” He mumbled, holding out the tote and Gavin took it without complaint, letting it dangle from his fingers while Aleks dug around in his pocket for the fob Trevor had handed over to the Fakes. His phone had been deactivated and he was still waiting for a replacement, but at least he had this.

He pulled it out of his pocket but, when he pressed it to the door, nothing happened.

“Great,” He sighed, turning it over to see if it would somehow help, “It’s _broken_.”

“It’s been thrown around a bit,” Gavin admitted, sounding a little guilty, “I probably broke the retriever inside. Here, take this. I’ll call the front desk.”

“Wait, hold on,” Aleks shoved the broken fob back into his pocket and pulled his lockbox out from under his arm, “I think I might have an extra one.”

He opened the box and rummaged around, careful of the small trinkets he’d painstakingly glued back together a few days ago, until he found the fob he’d stolen from James’ pocket that first night. It felt like years ago, now, but the fob was still there.

He picked it up carefully and pressed it to the door. Nothing happened.

He tried a few more times, gave it a few more chances, throat closing up a little each time nothing happened.

“Broken, too, love?” Gavin asked, frowning, but Aleks just shook his head.

“Fake.” He swallowed, carefully putting it back in his box, “Just a fake.”

“...I’ll call the front desk.” Gavin squeezed his arm and then set the tote down and stepped away to dial the front desk.

Aleks didn’t bother responding. Instead, he thought about how different things might be now if he’d called James’ bluff.

The front desk was up and unlocking Aleks’ door with a promise to get him a new fob by the next morning in less than five minutes. Gavin tipped the woman while Aleks went inside with the tote. He set it on the counter and took a detour to replace his lockbox in his drawer before it was back to the kitchen to unload the tote. He focused on the fridge instead of the fob, because he just _couldn’t_ , and noticed it had been cleaned out, maybe Jeremy’s doing. He almost felt bad as he filled it up with Jack’s tupperware. When he was done, he folded up the tote and left it in his pantry to return later.

Mishka had bee-lined for her playroom so he followed her while Gavin locked the front door. She’d found a few of her toys on the floor, and sniffled around for a minute,but something must have not been to her liking because her tail stopped wagging and her ears were down.

“Something wrong?” Gavin asked from the doorway and he shrugged a little, watching her paw at her bed and whine. She’d been doing that for the last few days, getting excited every time she saw a bed or heard the door, and then losing that excitement as soon as she went to investigate.

“Probably lonely. She’s had Ein, so…”

“Lonely, hm?” Gavn repeated, thoughtful, and cast his eyes from Aleks’ back when Aleks turned around to look at him. “And Ein was…?”

“James’ dog. A Corgi. She’s cute.”

“Do you...Would you like a Corgi?”

“No,” Aleks said emphatically, the very thought making him sick. “No. Thanks, though.”

“Of course, love,” Gavin whistled to catch Mishka’s attention, pulling her away from her search, and she trotted over to him. She stood on her back legs to put her paws in his hands when he offered them and he made an approving noise. “That’s enough yearning, I think. Come on, let’s go get everything to rights and see if we can’t get a smile on that face.”

Aleks’ lips quirked as he watched them leave, Mishka letting Gavin walk her out on her hind legs. He followed the both of them out of the playroom, relieved that he wasn’t alone, even if that had been the whole reason for wanting to come back to his apartment in the first place.

Gavin stayed for a few hours, made sure he was settled and checked all two of the exits, and the rooms “just in case, love, you can’t fault me for being more cautious.” They ate dinner, a two-person lasagne that Jack had packed because he was kind of psychic, and watched a few hours of TV, as if it were a normal night.

“Anything but Game of Thrones,” Aleks decided, so they settled on Chopped and Aleks had forgotten about reality for awhile and snipped about the contestants’ hair with Gavin.

Finally, though, it was getting late enough that Aleks decided it was time to send Gavin home if he wanted to have the night to himself to acclimate back to the Living Alone.

“Honestly,” He promised, sitting on his love seat and _not_ the couch that he and James had fallen asleep on the night before he’d been _kidnapped_. “Mishka and I are just going to chill out. Nothing special. It’s...it’s good to be home.”

“If you’re sure,” Gavin hesitated, but he gave Mishka one last pat on the head and stood up, “I’m a call away. Use mine until I can get you another,” he said, offering his phone. Under any other circumstances, Aleks would have refused but the thought of not having any way to call someone after the last few weeks was enough to have his chest tightening so he accepted with a small smile.

“Thanks, Gav. You know, for...for everything.” He stood up, setting the phone down so he could wring his wrists, careful of his wounds, “I’m...I’m sorry about the locket. I was too arrogant and I, just. I fell for a really obvious ruse. I was really fucking stupid.”

“I can tell you’re being genuine right now, so I’ll refrain from slapping your mouth.” Gavin sighed, looking him over disapprovingly, “Listen to me, Aleksandr. Things were stacked against you from the start. Did you make a few _very_ dumb decisions? Of course. But you’re young. It is no one’s fault you were taken but of those who took you. And they _will_ pay for that mistake, if I’ve not got to them yet.”

“I just, you know,” Aleks blinked hard, kept it together because he was an _adult_ and he’d cried enough, “I let him play me like an idiot. You were right.”

“I wish I hadn’t been, love,” Gavin cupped his face, looking sad, “For once, I would gladly take being wrong. I’m sorry I ever even looked at that stupid ring.”

“To be fair,” Aleks tried to joke, but his voice was a little choked up, “It was a very shiny ring.”

“Still wasn’t worth it,” Gavin said honestly, and tugged him into another careful hug, mindful of his still aching ribs. Aleks buried his face in his shoulder and clutched at his back, sniffled once and just...breathed Gavin’s scent in. He smelled like the soft perfume that he’d been wearing for as long as Aleks had known him, like home and vanilla. He was warm and steady, like he’d always been, and made Aleks feel calmer.

When they pulled away, Gavin cupped his face again and looked him over with a smile. “You’re going to get through this and you’re going to be stronger for it, Aleks. Trust me, okay?”

“Okay,” Aleks nodded a little, as best he could, and maybe his voice cracked but...it was only Gavin, and that was okay.

“Good. Now, I’m off. Call me if you need me for anything, don’t forget you have plans tomorrow.”

“Plans?”

“You’re going out for lunch.”

“Oh. Oh, yeah. Okay,” Aleks agreed, because there was no use arguing with Gavin when he decided on plans. Gavin let his face go, kissed his forehead with a loud _mwah_ sound, and turned to leave.

Aleks watched him go, feeling...better. Not _all better_ , but...a little more together. He locked the door after Gavin left, pressed his back against it and slowly dropped to the floor. He drew his legs up, hugged them to his chest and buried his face in his knees. His eyes burned hot, searing through the material of his jeans. He felt better. It would all be okay.

Mishka whined again, laid down next to him with her head resting on his foot.

It would all be okay.

-

“I didn’t forget,” Aleks defending himself, and his plate. Brett just gave him a dry look, knocking his spoon aside with his fork and speared another piece of pastry to pop into his own mouth with a challenging raise of his eyebrow.

“You forgot.” He said, because he’d always been able to see straight through Aleks’ bullshit.

“Well, excuse me if I _forgot_ ,” Aleks finally gave in, letting Brett steal another bite of his danish, “I’ve been recovering from a _kidnapping_.”

“Excuses,” Brett pointed at him with his fork, “Our lunches transcend trauma.”

“I _guess_ ,” Aleks grumbled and then took a big bite of his danish so he wouldn’t have to talk. Trevor was with them, picking at his cake quietly. He hadn’t looked up from his plate since it had come, and Aleks was starting to get sick of his silence.

“Okay, you’ve been fed and you’ve had like a week to recover, so spill.”

“Brett!” Trevor snapped, finally looking up, but Bret waved him off.

“It’s good for your psyche, or whatever, if you talk about it,” Brett shrugged, like he was asking for Aleks’ mental health and not because he was _nosy_.

“You’re the worst, do you know that?” Aleks asked but couldn’t help but snort when Brett just shrugged again in response and took a sip of his wine.

“Ugh,” He rolled his shoulders, forcing himself relax. His back was to the wall, they were tucked into a corner of a secure restaurant, Brett had security posted at all the entrances, and all three of them were packing. Everything was fine. “It wasn’t...the worst. I guess.”

“Vague,” Brett peered at him, and then frowned, “Oh shit, something _serious_ happened.”

“He got _hurt_ , dude! Of course something serious happened!”

“No, I mean _serious_ ,” Brett glanced at Trevor, “Want to talk about it?”

“Oh, now you stop pushing,” Aleks took a deep drink from his glass, hoping that, somehow, a dessert wine would get him toasted.

“There’s a difference between _I hung out in a room for three weeks_ and _serious_ , idiot,” Brett pointed out and Aleks wished he didn’t _understand_ what Brett was saying but he did.

“I haven’t...really...talked about it, yet. Not with anyone. Meg might know a bit, because I had to tell her some, and she might’ve told Gavin, but. I dunno. It’s complicated. Or, it was. It’s done, now.”

“Now that you’re back home?” Trevor asked, voice hushed.

“Now that he’s dead.” Aleks clarified, and finished off his glass.

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes after that and Aleks only regretted making things awkward as much as he regretted anything he did. But Brett wasn’t known for his tact, so it wasn’t long before he spoke up again.

“Was it the one that came to the party? The one who can’t dress himself to save his life. Whoops, that wasn’t intentional.”

“You’re hilarious. But...but, yeah. Yeah.” Aleks pushed the last of his danish around his plate, icing flakes breaking off and sticking to his fork, “James. We, uh. We got close. Or...I got close, at least. Maybe he did, too, I dunno, really. He turned on Law, so maybe it wasn’t totally one-sided.”

“I’m sorry, man,” Brett cut a piece of his pie off and put it on Aleks’ plate, “Here. Eat away the pain.”

“Thanks.” Aleks shook his head, not quite able to hold back the huff of laughter, “This pie will sooth my heartache. Thanks so much, dude.”

“It’s a process,” Brett shrugged, and Trevor added a bite of his cake on the edge of Aleks’ plate, too.

“Sorry, Aleks,” He said, with the kind of sincerity that made Aleks’ throat get tight again.

He just ate the cake instead of answering, nodding a little. Brett poured him more wine and he used it to wash down the cake before he started on the pie. It didn’t make the part of him that was still mourning feel any better at all but, like with Gavin, it made _him_ feel a little more together. He had his family, he had his friends, he had his dog. He should be fine. It had only been _three fucking weeks._

“In other news, you weren’t the only one who got fucked by that party,” Brett said, changing topics, “Wanna hear what Blaine and Aaron did?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” Aleks said around the pie, and Trevor’s face went so red that he was already sucked into the story. Finally, drama that wasn’t about _him_.

Brett caught him up on all the gossip of their social circle and, while he listened, he refused to remember lying in a warm, comfortable bed as James trailed bearded kisses down his body, talking about gossip and sushi and being attached. He ate dessert for lunch and drank good wine and laughed with his friends like _normal_ , and he didn’t think about James even a bit.

Brett had a meeting after lunch so he left a little earlier than either of them, but he hugged Aleks gingerly before he departing and promised to stop by in a day or two to make sure he wasn’t wallowing in grief alone, and he ruffled Trevor’s hair before he bowed out. It left he and Trevor alone at the table, finishing off the last of the wine and sharing the last of the sweet bread rolls in the middle of the table.

Trevor was wearing the diamond cufflinks that Aleks had given him, and they were holding his sleeves together like champs. They looked nice on him.

“Diamonds fit you,” He said, a little smug, “Brett always said you were a sapphire kind of guy, but I know my precious stones.”

“Both of those things are wildly out of my budget and I wouldn’t want them even if they weren’t,” Trevor said through a mouthful of bread and grinned when Aleks wrinkled his nose up in disgust.

“Don’t tell me you’re a precious metals kind of guy, Trev, Gavin would laugh at me for years just for being associated with you.”

“I’m a Walmart kind of guy,” Trevor said and Aleks put a hand to his chest in revulsion before he could stop himself.

“That was cruel. I’m _recovering_ from a _traumatic incident_ and you have the nerve to say that to me, to my face, right here at this table where I sit.”

“You’re going to pull that card for the rest of our lives.”

“There are very few pros to getting kidnapped, dude, let me have this.”

Trevor scoffed at him, but Aleks caught the way his shoulders drew up a little and the way his eyes dropped for just a second.

“What’s up?”

“Dunno what you mean,” Trevor shrugged, sipping at the last dredges of his wine.

“Yes, you do,” Aleks squinted at him, “Something’s bothering you.”

“No idea what that could be,” Trevor set his glass down, a little harder than necessary, “Maybe it’s something to do with my best friend getting _kidnapped_ from a party I left you _alone_ at while you were in _danger_.”

“...yeah, maybe it’s got something to do with that.”

Trevor sighed, big and deep like he was exhaling as much stress as he could. He slumped into his chair, both hands going to hold the stem of his glass. “I’m so sorry, Aleks. It wasn’t a regular party, I shouldn’t have disappeared like that. If I’d been there…”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, dude,” Aleks nudged him with his foot under the table, “You’re not my babysitter. I wasn’t exactly being cautious.”

“Still,” Trevor twisted the glass in his fingers, staring with such concentration that Aleks was worried about his head. “He might not have taken you home if I was there. You would’ve stayed at Brett’s, like usual. And the Fakes were home the _day after you left_. You wouldn’t have gone _anywhere_ if I’d just -”

“Hey,” Aleks cut him off, reaching out to catch the glass before it fell, “Shut the fuck up and listen. I made my own decisions that night. I didn’t ask for a babysitter, and I don’t blame you or Brett. I’m the one that got fucked up. I’m the one that decided to sleep with James, and I’m the one that decided to go home with him. You’re my friend, Trevor. Not my bodyguard or my watchdog.”

“But...I had your _phone_ , man. You could have called for help, or -”

“If you think they would have let me keep that phone, you are an idiot. They convinced me to let them _take Mishka_ from me, I wouldn’t have thought any different about them taking my phone. Face it, Trev, this was on me. All of it. You didn’t do anything to fuck me over, nothing that I didn’t put into place myself.”

“...you suck,” Trevor groaned, finally setting the glass down so Aleks could let it go, “Can’t you just let someone else take a little of the blame?”

“I’m always willing to let someone else take the blame if I think I can make a case for why it’s their fault, dude, but I gotta admit it this time around. I really fucked myself here.”

“At least you aren’t dead.”

“Always looking on the bright side, aren’t you?”

“Someone has to, you depressing motherfucker.”

“Okay, okay,” Aleks stood up, pulling his wallet out to leave a tip since Brett had paid the bill, “Let’s get out of here. If I smell anymore food, I’m gonna hurl.”

“Not on the table, Aleks, that’s _gross_.”

“Shut up, don’t even tempt me -” Aleks wrinkled his nose up, throwing a fifty on the table. They bickered all the way out, heading to Aleks’ car. Trevor had come with Brett and he was gonna hang out with Aleks for a little bit before heading home. They had a lot of business shit to catch up on, too, and Aleks could only hope that Geoff had taken over for he and Gavin while he was gone or he’d have weeks of messes to start cleaning up.

-

They did about two hours’ worth of work, because Geoff was a god among men and had taken over in their absence, and then proceeded get plastered on about a ton of alcohol Aleks ordered from the front desk and the weed Trevor had in his pocket. Somewhere between lying on his back on the coffee table while Trevor smoked on the floor, and throwing his couch cushions off the edge of his yard onto the sidewalk stories below in a fit of rage, he decided he wanted new furniture.

“I can’t have this shit,” He said miserably, “I hate it. I can’t sit on my _couch_ , it all reminds me of _him_ , that fuckin’ - that fuckin’, he’s such a _cunt_ -”

“Sorry, man,” Trevor said around his joint, eyes bloodshot and hooded, “It’s gotta suck.”

“It _does_ ,” Aleks kicked at his cushionless couch, “I can’t stop _thinking_ about him. What kind of _asshole_ gets _shot_!?”

“A stupid one,” Trevor said and offered the joint.

“A fucking _stupid_ one,” Aleks agreed and took the joint.

Between the two of them finishing that off and moving on to a second and the bottom half of the whiskey bottle, Aleks had pushed the remains of his couch, loveseat and chair into the hallway and texted the front desk to have them removed. Afterward, the both of them sprawled in the living room while Mishka raced around outside and tracked wet paw prints all over the hardwood floors around them.

“You need new couches now.” Trevor pointed out, mostly asleep with his head pillowed on Aleks’ stomach.

“I need a new brain,” Aleks said back, flicking the joint ashes on the floor. What did it matter if the wood burnt? What did anything matter, really? It was just going to be _shot_ , like an _asshole cunt_ , in the end.

“You can’t sit on a brain. Can you? Maybe if you, like. Remove the brain. Sit on that.”

“It’s probably get crushed.” Aleks pointed out, inhaling the hot smoke and letting it settle for a few seconds before he exhaled it in rings above his head.

“I dunno that’s proper grammar, dude,” Trevor patted his leg and Aleks shrugged and hoped Trevor could feel it because he didn’t want to talk anymore. _Proper grammar_. Fuck grammar. Fuck proper.

Instead, he pulled his phone out and googled _i need a new couch._ It came out as _ine eda nw cpich_ but autocorrect truly was the best friend he could ever ask for and he was on some sort of furniture website in the next few seconds.

He couldn’t really see straight anymore, his vision was blurry from the booze and the weed, but he scrolled for a long time. Mostly it was just muscle memory, no part of him actually _seeing_ what he was staring at as he finished off the blunt and put it out on the floor with a twist of his wrist. His arm was getting tired from holding his phone up above his face and he was ready to stop looking when he saw it. Bottom row of a page number in the double digits he couldn’t get his eyes to steady enough to read, the left most option.

It was a sectional that could seat at least twelve people, three sides of a square with a chaise lounge making up the right side. He could imagine it taking up most of the living room, with the lounge on the side of the glass wall. It wasn’t particularly beautiful, nothing that set it apart from any of the other huge couches he’d seen, except for the print.

He purchased it before he’d even really thought of it. He lived at the top of a _skyscraper_ and there was no fucking way they were getting that thing up here without a helicopter or something. They’d have to assemble the whole thing in the apartment. There wouldn’t be nearly as much space as there had been with this monstrosity in his house. God, it was disgustingly ugly.

He put in his credit card number and mailing address, wasted a good few thousand dollars on _that_ , and then dropped his arm.

Trevor snored against his stomach, and Aleks pressed a hand to his eyes, trying not to shake with whatever sobs escaped for the next few minutes. He felt sick. He wanted to go home, to Gavin and the others. To when he was younger and stupidly naive and didn’t _know_ what this kind of loss felt like. It hurt so much, knowing he wasn’t ever gonna see James again or hear him or talk to him. They hadn’t _been anything_ , but they could have been. They could have been, if they’d had the chance, if things had been different. If they hadn’t been who they are, or were.

They _could_ have been.

What an _asshole_.

-

“ _Aleksandr Free_ ,”

“N _oo_ ,” He groaned, turning onto his stomach and hiding his face in his arms. His head was _pounding_.

“Don’t you fucking _no_ me, did you spend _ten thousand dollars_ on a _couch_!?”

“...noo?” he repeated, in a slightly different tone. He didn’t often get Jack at his apartment, especially not on morning-afters. He must have fucked up big time.

“Mister Pattillo?” He heard Trevor groan, and realized that he had a head against his side that he’d dislodged from his chest as he’d turned over.

“Hello, Trevor. Did you help Aleks throw cushions off the building? Aleksandr, you could have _killed_ someone.”

“No, sir,” Trevor lied through his dirty, betrayer teeth, “He was, uh. Upset.”

“He’s gonna be upset in a minute,” Jack intoned, sounding ominous, and Aleks curled up even tighter.

“Ja _aa_ ck,” He whined, “I’m _recovering_ , Jack. Retail therapy. Gavin would let me do it.”

“Gavin is an _idiot_ and so are _you_. Go to _real_ therapy instead of spending money on something as _ugly as this_!”

“How’d you know I even _bought_ it,” Aleks slowly set up, pausing at least three times to swallow back the vomit he knew was coming. Jack was already mad and Aleks didn’t want to know how much angrier he could get if he threw up on his loafers.

“ _You used my card_!” Jack almost howled, and Aleks blinked down at the floor and tried to remember who he even was.

“...whoops?”

“ _ALEKS!_ ”

“Jack. Jack, listen, Jack,” He crawled around aimlessly, blind because the sunlight was making his head fall off, until he remembered he was making for his bathroom, “I don’t remember anything that happened between opening that bottle and now. I’m _sorry_. I won’t do it again.”

“Let’s recap, then,” Jack continued, ignoring his desperate plight, “You ordered four bottles of liquor from the front desk, threw seven cushions off your railing and onto the street below, one of which fell on a man and nearly got him ran over in the street, made three employees haul your furniture out of the hallway where you and Trevor _Tetrised it all to the ceiling_ , ordered a ten thousand dollar couch on my card, and left your door unlocked.”

“...fuck.”

“ _Fuck_ is right, Free. You’re so goddamn lucky that Michael talked that guy into settling without calling anyone. Are you insane? You could have fallen over the edge! You could have died, are you -”

“Uh, excuse me, Mister Pattillo?” Trevor cut in, sounding strained from pain, “I don’t mean to, like, intrude or anything, because ten thousand dollars is, like, it’s just so much money, but, uh, Aleks is kind of. Working through some stuff? And maybe you could yell at him later, because he’s gonna throw up on the floor.”

Aleks took his chance, abandoning Trevor to his fate, and managed to climb to his feet and stagger into his bedroom, and then into the bathroom.

He thought about showering but the thought of having to...do so much was too off-putting for now. Instead, he took _just so many_ Advil, too many maybe, and used his hands and the sink to swallow them down, and then he looked at himself in the mirror to assess the damage.

His hair was...okay. It was too short for one night on a floor to fuck up, but it was kind of flat on one side and a lock of it had maybe been soaked with alcohol and dried? Either way, he just ran his hand under the water again and wet it until the clumped strands separated. His liner hadn’t run, but he could see where it had smudged at the corners so he used some make-up remover to clean it up a little, get rid of the dark smudges until it all looked a little more on-point. He brushed his teeth next, tried to get rid of the taste of stale alcohol on his tongue, and then threw up in the toilet because the mint was too strong.

Jesus, three weeks and he was acting like this was his first rager instead of a night in with one whole friend.

It took a little longer to get himself together after that. The mint of the toothpaste kept making him throw up and he had no other flavor to try but eventually he managed to keep the last of the contents in his stomach _inside of his body_ and clean his mouth out. He wasn’t exactly feeling _refreshed_ , but the pills kicked in around the time he was finally spitting the toothpaste out for the right reasons. His new-found strength allowed him to grab the Advil to bring out to Trevor in apology for sacrificing him to Jack’s wrath.

As he left the bathroom, he got a whiff of something cooking and expected his stomach to roll. Instead, it turned in on itself with _hunger_ , a pang strong enough to nearly bowl him over stabbing through him. Suddenly, and with a sad frown, he remembered he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch yesterday.

Jack was in the kitchen, standing in front of the stove, when he came back out of the hallway. He could only see her tail, really, but Mishka was right there at his feet, wagging her backside so hard that she wasn’t even sitting properly, and Trevor was sitting at the bar with his head in his hands and a mug in front of him.

“Here,” He whispered, setting the Advil down next to his elbow, “Go...clean up, or whatever.”

Trevor just grumbled at him, swiping the pain relievers, very slowly as to not throw himself off, and taking a handful with a swig from his mug. Then he disappeared toward the guest room, taking the Advil with him.

Jack turned around when he was gone, sizzling skillet in one hand and tongs in the other. There was a plate with a paper towel laid over it and he carefully began to lay thick strips of bacon along the plate, one after another, until there was a small pile.

“You don’t look good, Aleks,” Jack spoke up, sounding less angry but a little bit disappointed, and that was the absolute last thing Aleks needed in his entire life right now.

“I think it’s the nightmares, depression, and trauma.” He snagged a piece of bacon and yelped when it immediately singed his fingers enough to make him drop it before Jack could wack his hand with the tongs.

“I’m not joking around,” Jack frowned at him and turned back around to drain the grease from the pan into a jar. Aleks could only assume Jack had brought it himself, perhaps knowing he’d be making a hangover cure, and the annoyance he felt drained away. Aleks needed to go and buy him flowers or something.

“Sorry,” He said quietly, looking at his arms, “I really don’t remember buying it. Is it, like...the worst?”

“It’s god fucking awful. Why would you _buy_ something like that?”

“Do I wanna know?”

“No.” Jack shook his head, pulling the fridge door open to grab a carton of eggs Aleks _also_ didn’t remember having. “It’ll be here in three weeks. And you’re going to put it in your living room and it’s going to be there for years, do you hear me? Ten thousand dollars for a _couch_ and you are gonna goddamn use it.”

“Yes, sir,” Aleks picked at the edge of one of his bandages, “I can pay you back. I probably put your card number in on accident.”

“...don’t worry about it.” Jack cracked an egg, and then two more, into the skillet, shoulders finally relaxing a little, “What’s money really matter if it made you feel a little better? We’re cool.”

“Thanks, Jack.” Aleks’ lips twisted as he tried not to smile. This was a serious moment. He’d just kind of stolen a bunch of money from someone who cared about him while drunk. But Jack just served the eggs and tonged some bacon on his plate and then a warm piece of toast next to them, before setting the whole thing in front of Aleks and if Aleks squeezed Jack’s wrist in thanks, he didn’t mention it as he went back to making eggs for Trevor.

-

“Her name is Celia.” Gavin said, sitting on the patio chair Aleks had dragged into his living room earlier, to serve as a couch until the new one came in. He still hadn’t looked at it, didn’t want to have to sit in dread knowing what was to be sitting in his apartment for the foreseeable future, but Michael and Ray had laughed at him for about twenty minutes when he’d dragged himself over to talk to Geoff about something business-related, so he didn’t hold much hope. He’d see in a week or so when it showed up.

Gavin, at least, hadn’t made _too much_ fun of him. Instead, apparently, he’d bought Aleks a new friend.

A new, beautiful friend.

“Gav,” He tried to say, but she was blinking up at him from where she’d settled in his lap, purring so hard her entire body was shaking with it, and he couldn’t quite say anything, really.

“She’s supposedly going to grow rather large,” Gavin continued, smiling pretty goddamn wide, “Smaller than Mishka, but not by much,”

“Is she another one of Ryan’s _guard pets_?”

“No,” Gavin laughed, reaching down to boop her head. She purred louder, somehow, and tilted her face toward the touch. Aleks, without thinking, scratched at her throat and she rolled her whole, entire body over so he would scratch her belly, too. “She’s purely for loving purposes.”

Her tail lashed, long and furry, and then curled up a little until the tip was resting along Aleks’ bare arm. Caleb had allowed him to take the bandages off now that everything seemed to be healing okay and she wrapped her front legs around his wrist, covered the lines slowly healing into thin scars with her fluff as she rubbed her head against his fingers.

“I...She’s...you know?”

“Yes, love, I know,” Gavin agreed, because she was _beautiful_. Of course she was, Gavin had probably hand picked her from some purebred litter himself, because he was kind of crazy. All warm browns, long fur, with perfect wide eyes. And so small, almost _too_ small for Aleks to really think he should be allowed to hold her. Mishka sat close by, being good like Gavin had told her to be, with her head on her front paws and her tail slowly wagging across the floor. She obviously wanted to check out the kitten napping in Aleks’ lap but Ryan had trained her too well for her try jumping all over _Gavin_ , of all people.

“You said Mishka seemed lonely, what with losing her friend and all, so I s’posed I’d find her a new friend. Think she’ll fit?”

“Yeah,” Aleks swallowed, nodded slowly as he ran a thumb lightly down Celia’s throat. She closed her eyes, tilted her head back so far that she was practically brushing the tips of her ears against the floor, and his heart kind of ballooned in his chest. “Yeah, she’ll fit in fine, I think.”

“Perfect.” Gavin ruffled his hair and stood up, snapping his fingers at Mishka and chuckling when she jumped onto her feet and casually made her way over like she wasn’t dying to investigate. “Let’s see how things settle and we’ll go from there, hm?”

Celia opened her eyes wide at Mishka’s approach and turned back onto her belly in Aleks’ lap. Her claws slid out, snagged in his pants as her fur fluffed up until she was nearly twice her size. As soon as Mishka shoved her face too close, Celia hissed and swiped at her with her tiny paw. It was enough to make Mishka retreat, but not too far. She didn’t growl or bark, though, more curious at the little hissing thing than angry or threatened, which was a good enough sign. They’d make it work.

“I know,” Gavin said into the quiet that followed as they watched Mishka and Celia getting to know each other. Celia retreated off of his lap at one point and jumped on the kitchen island and Mishka settled for resting her paws on the edge so she could look at her. “Aleks, that you don’t tell me everything anymore. Especially some of the things that happened while you were with Nova’s team.”

“Gav,” Aleks winced, looked down at his wrists instead of up at Gavin. He regretted not bringing the second chair in. He would have if he’d known Gavin was gonna want to have some sort of _emotional talk_. At least so they would be on the same level. None of the Fakes had really asked anything about what had happened with him after he’d asked Geoff to leave him out of the aftermath.They hadn’t really needed to, with Law dead and James’ team caught, and Aleks had just kind of guessed he would be allowed to never talk about it with any of them again, ever, thanks.

“Meg told me about the marks on your chest and I can recognize heartbreak when I see it. I wish you’d talked to me about it, but I know that it’s...difficult. Talking to someone who plays the role in your life that I do about things like sex and such, on top of it being...in this circumstance. And that’s okay, of course. I just hope Ceilia will help. Betrayal, especially by the ones we _like_ , is rarely easy to deal with.”

“Yeah,” Aleks watched Celia peek her head over the edge of the counter where Mishka had disappeared from her view and then reach down to bat at her ear when she saw Mishka was paying attention to them instead. Mishka snapped back to her and lurched forward to lick her face before she could get away and Celia made a loud, angry noise and skittered back from the edge to start grooming herself.

“It would be easier to handle, I think, if I could just _talk_ to him.” He finally admitted. It was the first time he was saying any of this out loud and it made everything hurt all over again, like the wound had been raggedly healing and he was now opening it back up. “We...he took me on a date, Gav. Because I was bummed about missing lunch with Brett, he snuck me out and took me to this fucking diner. It was all 80s themed, there was a jukebox and everything, and we drank a milkshake together and he played some stupid, romantic song and I can’t get it out of my head.”

Gavin slid to the floor next to him and Aleks didn’t look at him but he leaned into him when Gavin dropped an arm around his shoulders. They both settled back against the chair; Gavin stretching out while Aleks pulled his legs to his chest.

“He sounds like he’s a smooth talker.”

“Smoother than me, that’s for sure,” Aleks laughed, and it _hurt_. “You could run circles around him, though. He was just...he was surprisingly thoughtful when he didn’t have to be. I threw a fit over not having any real food around so he went out and bought groceries. And video games and a whole system so I wasn’t bored. He hung out with me every day as much as he could. Made me laugh. Showed me pictures of Ein and Mishka together so I wouldn’t worry. Never made me sleep alone. By the end, it wasn’t even just about the sex, he’d come in to make sure I was sleeping! What kind of, what kind of fucking - who _does_ that!? What kind of piece of shit _does that_!?”

“Someone who knows how to do their job,” Gavin said gently, and it was a sharp reminder for all that he was soft when he said it. Yeah. A job. Aleks been a job. For every second of it, he’d been a job. James had _honeypotted_ him.

But there had been moments that Aleks...couldn’t just chalk up to it being just a job. The way James had looked at him the night Aleks’ apologized for listening in on him and Asher, with his hands cupping Aleks’ face and his lips pressed tightly together to stay quiet; when he helped Aleks with his earring; the way he’d held Aleks’ hand on their way to the diner; the whole _diner experience_ ; not opening the locket; turning on Law.

There was doing a job and then there was going _beyond_ that and James had gone _so_ beyond by the end.

“Yeah,” He nodded, sighing. “Yeah, a job. But then...then he protected me. After all that, he protected me.”

Gavin didn’t have anything to say to that. Just rubbed his shoulder in comfort and it gave Aleks the courage to keep talking. To work it all out as much as he could. He’d been holding it all in, ashamed that he’d fallen for such a cheap trick as a honeypot but grieving the loss all the same, and letting it all out to Gavin made his chest hurt so badly it was hard to talk, but it was becoming just a little easier with each passing minute, too.

“He told me that I twisted him all up. He said he...he _liked_ me. That he could have fallen in love with me. The worst part is that _I_ could have fallen in love with _him_ , too.”

“Oh, Aleks,” Gavin said, sympathetic and pained, “I’m so sorry, love.”

“He,” Aleks shook his head, pressed his palms to his eyes to try to stop the burning. He’d already cried so much. He’d already cried _so much_ and he was so tired. “He got me away from Law, and he - he promised to bring Ein over, so she and, so she and Mishka could play together. And he,” He had to stop, take a ragged breath because his chest was closing up and he couldn’t press down on his eyes any harder. Tears wet his palm, burning hot, as he tried to keep talking. “He said he’d t-take m-me out again. That he wanted t-to meet you, that we - that we’d meet up in, in LS, and, I dunno, I dunno,”

“It’s okay,” Gavin rubbed his upper arm, resting his cheek against Aleks’ head, “It’s okay. It was a very intense situation. It makes sense. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You were both put in a very, _very_ intense situation, and you had a good chemistry, I’m sure it just. It went hard and fast, and it must have been difficult for it to end so abruptly.”

“No one’s ever,” he inhaled sharply, trying to make his voice stop _sounding_ like that, because he’d only known James for _three weeks_ and it felt like he’d lost someone he’d been with for years, “No one’s ever _looked_ at me like that. No one. I liked him so much, Gavin, I - I was so _stupid_ , I was so fucking _easy_ , and I even liked him after! When I _knew_ , I still forgave him. I forgave him, and I wanted him to, to come back with me! I shouldn’t have, I shouldn’t have left the plane, I should have _stayed_ , if I’d just, if I’d just _stayed_ , he might have -”

“Deep breathes,” Gavin kept rubbing his arm, soothing in how he spoke, “It’s okay, love. If you’d stayed, Law could have hurt you before your boy was able to take him out.”

“Or I could have _helped_ ,” Aleks sobbed, turning into Gavin, a little desperate to be understood, “I could have _saved him_! He could, he could be _here_ , in this stupid apartment! Or, or somewhere in the city, maybe, with his dumb dog and his dumb _face_! But I...I left.”

He went limp all at once, all of the guilt and anger and grief coming together and just. Overpowering him. He wasn’t meant for this much _feeling_. Diamonds didn’t _feel_.

“But I _left_. And he got shot and he’s _dead_ and I’ll never...I’ll never yell at him again or talk to him or see his fucking dog or hear him say some six-syllable bullshit that an idiot like him has no right using in a sentence. I’ll never find out if I could have loved him as much as I think I could have, or if he’d love me like that, too.”

Mishka whined, making him look up. She’d settled herself close to him, head low to the ground, and inched forward now that she had his attention until she’d made him straighten out his legs so she could crawl into his lap, whining the whole way. He wanted to smile, but things still seemed so _painful_ , so gray, that he couldn’t really do it. Instead, he buried his hands in her fur and scratched at her neck until her tail started to slowly wag. Celia was still on the counter, but she was watching all of them curiously, her fur flat but her tail swishing slowly back and forth behind her.

“Did...Meg tell you about his death?” Gavin asked, still gentle and understanding, “She got you pretty quick after you left the jet, right?”

“Yeah,” He took another deep breath and wiped his face with his sleeve, “But she didn’t have to tell me. I saw...I saw him. I saw him fall. He was _covered_ in blood, Gavin. So much of it, there was so much blood, all over him, and he just - he just dropped. And she wouldn’t turn around, I couldn’t get back to him, but he was covered in so much _blood_ -”

“Okay, okay,” Gavin rubbed his arm a little harder, “It’s okay, we don’t have to talk about it anymore. This was...it was too much. I’m so sorry, Aleks. I wish I could take it from you.”

“It’s my fault,” Aleks sniffed, his nose running a little, “I was...I was too cocky. I should have listened to you and paid more attention. And I lost the stupid fucking ring that started this whole thing. So it was all for _nothing_.”

“Not for nothing,” Gavin settled his hand in Aleks’ hair, stroking through slowly until Aleks was able to relax back against his side, “Law was taken care of. You helped to secure a lot of territory, and saved a lot of lives that could have been lost in any more skirmishes. And you exposed some pretty big security holes that I’d never thought to check before. And, as painful as the lesson was, you _learned_ , Aleks. That’s all we can hope to get out of terrible things like this. Things we can take with us as we grow.”

“Never trust anyone, don’t fall in love, security teams are _Judas_?”

“No, idiot,” Gavin tugged at his hair playfully, “That you should always _double-check_. Don’t trust authorities you don’t personally know, no matter how well they act. Be _careful_ , keep your wits about you. Follow your instincts if you feel something is wrong. And, yes, don’t fall for a pretty face.”

“Don’t worry, Gav,” Aleks didn’t look away from Mishka, his hands nearly invisible buried in all of her fur, “I don’t plan on it any time soon. Once bitten is e-fucking-nough.”

“Yes, well,” Gavin patted her back and slowly pulled away from Aleks so he could stand up, “We don’t plan for these things, do we? Now, up, enough moping. Let’s get some food in you and then call Michael and Lindsey for swimmy bevs. I’m feeling up for a dip in the ol’ pool.”

“I’ll pass, I think,” Aleks sniffed, rubbed his eyes one last time and then stood up with help from Gavin’s hand, “I’m gonna try to bond with Celia. Maybe get her off the counter before she thinks that’s allowed.”

“Good luck telling her where she’s not allowed,” Gavin scoffed, but he tugged Aleks into a side hug and wiped at his cheek with the pad of his thumb a little, “Don’t drink alone. No more of that. Things have a way of working out.”

“I know,” He nodded, feeling his chest finally loosen up a little, “Thanks.”

“Any time, love,” Gavin pinched his cheek and let him go, heading toward the door with a cheerful swagger, “I’ll text you later. Remember, your couch is coming soon. I’m dying to see it where it belongs.”

“Yeah, yeah,” He grumbled, following Gavin to the door, “Laugh it up. Like you’ve never drunkenly bought a couch.”

“Not with Jack’s card, I haven’t!” Gavin chimed, booping him on the nose much like he had Celia’s head, and then he left with a Golden Boy smile and a wink.

Aleks watched him disappear into the elevator and then slowly shut his door, locking it up before turning around to look at Celia and Mishka and his empty living room.

“Okay, girls.” He said firmly, “Gavin’s right. Enough moping. Let’s try to get along, okay?”

Celia yawned at him, flopping onto her side on the counter and Mishka’s tail started to wag at the sound of his voice, her big eyes trained on him and waiting for attention.

Yeah, okay. This wouldn’t be so hard.

-

He lied. He lied, this was too hard.

“No, listen to me. Do you know who I am?” He said, ready to start shouting from sheer desperation if nothing else, “Get it _out_ of my apartment!”

“But, sir,” The pilot, who also doubled as the man who had lead the three-man excursion that flew, delivered, and assembled the _horrifying_ _thing_ in his living room while he’d been in the shower, said helplessly, “It’s...already been assembled. We’d have to bring different tools to tear it apart.”

“I’ll break it apart myself!” Aleks howled, looking between the pilot and the couple standing by the front door and waiting to leave for the roof, where their helicopter was waiting. They were _not_ leaving that _thing_ in his apartment. _No_. He would pay Jack back to the _penny_.

“Sir, if you have a problem with the product, you’ll have to call customer support. We have other appointments, so we need to leave. If you work something out with our company, we’ll gladly return and take it apart for you,” The pilot said firmly, finding his footing, and Aleks was just. He was too overwhelmed with the _thing_ and Mishka barking from her playroom and the yowling of Celia in _his_ room to argue. They left, closing the door politely behind them, and he was alone in his apartment with.

With _that_.

A sectional almost the size of his entire living room, with a matching ottoman that he could probably use as a small guest bed and a chaise lounge that could fit at least three people if they laid right, all of it firmly wedged in it’s _fucking forever home_.

The whole thing, from end to end, was cow print.

What...what the _fuck_ had Drunken Aleks _thought he was doing._

Not knowing what else to do, he dialed Brett’s number as he went back to his room, opening both doors on his way for Celia and Mishka to bound out of their rooms and into the main area. With his luck, they’d rip the whole thing apart and he would be able to get rid of it.

“Hello?” Brett said, sounding a little tired.

“I need booze,” He said, voice just a little shaky. “Lots, lots, just so fucking much, of booze.”

“Jesus, Aleks, it’s one in the afternoon. I’ll be there in an hour.”

“Bring an eye mask. You’re gonna need it.”

“New couch is in, huh? So what’s it look like? Is it neon?”

“Worse.”

“Oh, shit. I’ll be there in twenty.”

Aleks hung up and face planted in bed. He didn’t move again until he heard the front door open and Brett’s familiar footsteps, and then his equally familiar cackle.

 _Fuck_ his entire life, and fuck the part that had involved James specifically.

Thirteen hours later found him sprawled on the new couch with Brett, whining into his new phone.

“It reminds me of him,” he said into the phone, head on Brett’s lap because he was too drunk to sit up straight, “I can - I can’t have it in my apartment, Gavin, I know Jack wanted to teach me a lesson, I know, but I can’t - it’s not _funny_ -” he hiccupped, maybe from the booze, maybe from the near crying, maybe from all of it, and Gavin took his chance to break through Aleks’ five-minute tirade on the impossibility of keeping the couch.

“Aleks, love, I’ll take care of it, okay? I’ll take care of it. Now give the phone to Brett, would you?”

“He wants’a talk to you,” he slurred, poking at Brett with his elbow. Brett sighed in response, but he took the phone and pressed it to his ear.

“I didn’t start this,” He began, and then went quiet. He nodded every few seconds, made a few agreeing noises as he stroked familiar fingers through Aleks’ hair before he finally spoke up again, “I will. He’ll be okay. He just drank a little too much, again. He’s just sad. Right, Aleks?”

“I’m sad,” He agreed, pressing Brett’s free hand to his face in the hopes of it somehow stopping his head from spinning, “I’m so sad, Brett. I’m _sooo_ sad.”

“Yeah, see? He’s so sad, but he’s not an addict. Trauma, man. It’ll fuck you up. No, that was a joke. Sorry. Mhm. I’ll make sure he’s okay. No more alcohol, I got it. Yep. Okay. Okay, say goodnight and I’m sorry for waking you up at three in the morning, Aleks!”

Aleks got through about half of it before he forgot what he was saying and had to close his eyes and trail off into a groan.

“Yep, okay, goodnight, Gavin.”

Brett ended the call, patted Aleks’ cheek and then carefully helped him sit up. “Okay, kid. Time for bed. I don’t even wanna _try_ to move you right now so I’m gonna get us a few pillows and blankets and we can sleep on the couch.”

“I don’t want to sleep on this couch,” Aleks sniffed, looking at Brett with a hazy glare because Brett wouldn’t stop spinning, “I hate it. I hate it so much. I hate _him_ so much. He _ruined_ cow print! What kind of piece of shit _gets shot and ruins cow print_!?”

“Okay,” Brett stood up, patting his forehead, “Sleep, diamond boy. We can talk about your deep psychological hang ups when you’re sober and I can get you into some grief counseling.”

Aleks wrinkled up his nose at him, but he was horizontal now, and his brain said that meant it was time for sleeping, and he was out like a light before Brett came back.

-

He was...possibly still drunk, but mostly hungover, when he woke up. There was a warmth against the top of his head that slowly rose and fell, Celia, and a heavy body across his legs, Mishka, and both were snoring softly, but he didn’t hear Brett’s familiar _I’m Sleeping, Peasant_ noises. Part of him just barely remembered Brett waking him up to let him know he was leaving for a meeting which could have been hours ago, but the rest of him informed that part of him that if he tried to think too much harder it was in for rebellion, so he let himself not worry about it for awhile longer.

Instead, he just breathed and took stock of himself.

He was exhausted, even after all that sleep, and he could smell himself. His mouth also tasted like ass, and his hair was probably _crunchy_ after last night. He didn’t know why he thought it was crunchy, but he did. His muscles were sore, his head hurt so bad he was kind of scared he’d hit it on something, and his feet were asleep, presumably from Mishka.

All in all, it wasn’t the _worst_ way he’d woken up, but he’d definitely woken up _better_.

An hour of still recovery left him enough energy to roll off the couch, part of him hoping that one of them had vomited on it or something to the point it would was uncleanable, and trudged his way to the bathroom. He took a hot shower, laying on the tiled floor of his bathing area while the spray ran over him and slowly rinsed away the Depressed Alcohol Stink. He found the energy to wash his hair with the bar of soap instead of the shampoo he _should_ have been using because of the bleach, and managed to run the bar over most of his body, or the important bits at least, before he had to stop or risk throwing up.

Once he was clean, he crawled out of the shower, lights so dim it was practically still dark, and used the counter to stand up and brush his teeth. He’d learned from a few weeks ago, and the new flavor was much less threatening and sharp than mint, even though he wasn’t quite sure what it tasted like at the moment. Maybe victory or success, at least.

Instead of worrying about it, he brushed his teeth and took a few Advil dry, and then limped out of his bathroom and back into his bedroom. Brett, a blessed soul, had left a pair of boxers, some sweats, and a tank on the bed and he carefully pulled it all on along with some socks.

Maybe he was in a mood to wallow in pity, because he returned to the couch instead of collapsing in bed. There were an assortment of matching cow print pillows that had come with the sectional and he grabbed one as he settled back down on the lounge, curled up around the pillow and buried his face in it. It smelled new, nothing like his apartment or like the safe house, but he was still drunk enough to pretend.

He fell back to sleep, Mishka in the curl of his legs, Celia against the tips of his still-wet hair, the pillow in his arms.

-

The knock on his door was hesitant enough that he knew it wasn’t his family or either of his friends, so he ignored it the first time. If it was important, someone would call him or break in, and if they didn’t then it wasn’t, and he didn’t care.

Instead of worrying about it, he just turned over on the couch, clutched the pillow a little tighter to his chest. It was impossible to _pretend_ now, but he was still asleep enough to not care that he was trying to do.

There was another knock, a sharp rap that had his eyes snapping open as he was pulled from his rest totally. Mother _fucker_.

Mishka, who _had_ been dead asleep against his legs, lifted her head and let out a gruff bark that had Celia sitting up and stretching. If there was a third knock, Mishka was gonna lose her mind and Celia wasn’t gonna be fucking happy about it.

“Christ,” He hissed, sitting up and rolling off the couch with a pained grunt, “I’m coming. I’m _coming_ , don’t fuckin’ touch that door again!” he shouted, rubbing sleep from his eyes and cradling his head as best he could as he walked. He nearly flipped over the couch, still unused to how it took up _so much space_ that had previously been free, but managed to catch himself with one hand. It left the other free to keep his head in one piece and he blindly stumbled to his door mostly moving on blind faith that he knew his place of residence enough to not crash.

He checked the door cam but his eyes were too blurry to make out more than a tall figure in a tee shirt and baggy jeans facing away from the door. The figure had broad, though stooped, shoulders and dark hair, hands stuffed into their pants, head ducked.

“Can I help you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes when the figure didn’t jump at the speaker alert sound.

They turned around and Aleks squinted through his hazy vision, tried to make out their face but couldn’t between the fuzzy screen and his fuzzy eyes.

“Um,” the figure, a man, said, and Aleks threw caution to the wind and opened the door, ready to tear this guy a new asshole, only to have all the air knocked out of his lungs.

“Hey.” James said, blinking owlishly, “You...look like you’re going to hurl, dude.”

“I am,” Aleks said shakily, and then turned to race for the kitchen.

He reached the sink in time and leaned over to retch, head spinning so hard that he was almost afraid of passing out. He took his time emptying out his stomach, eventually dry-heaving as his body finished expelling everything he had in him, and then finally stopped trying to force him into throwing up his organs, too. He turned on the faucet, cleaned out his mouth and then drank from it until his body stopped trying to rebel, and then a little more after that.

If he’d thought his previous headache had been bad, his current put him to shame. God, he was _hallucinating dead people._ He didn’t have the time or energy for this.

He ignored his door, and his fever-dreamed dead kidnapper-cum-savior in favor of returning to his bathroom to brush his teeth _again_. Just once, he wanted to be hungover without throwing up his entire soul. That’s what he got for sleeping on that fucking couch, like an idiot. Couldn’t even figure out what a bad idea _that_ was, like an _idiot_.

He brushed his teeth three times, glaring at himself in the mirror the whole time. His hair was a mess, his eyes bloodshot and tired. He looked like a fucking mess. He spit out water for the last time, turned his sink off, and slowly shuffled back into his living room with his raging headache and hands still holding his skull together. He needed to shut his fucking door before one of the Fakes dropped by unannounced and gave him another earful about his budding alcohol dependency and or one of his friends came to facilitate said alcohol dependency.

When he returned to the door, James was still there and looked _real_. Real and concerned. Watching him with dark eyes, a little wide. His mouth was set in a firm line, hands still in his pockets. Aleks had never seen him in anything other than slacks and dress shirts except for that one tee. He wore casual well, loose clothes with his jeans down almost too low for his hands to reach his pockets. He had his hair up, still; a tight bun except for a few stray curls that had escaped at some point.

He looked tired, like he just hadn’t been sleeping well the last few weeks instead of _dead_ , with dark marks under his eyes, but otherwise healthy. His left eye looked like it had the beginnings of a dark bruise blooming around it, and along the bridge of his nose.

“You…” He said, tongue heavy, “I’m...what?”

“Um. Are you...good now? Gavin...Gavin said we should, uh. Gavin said we should talk. Can I come in?”

“I…” Aleks managed, blinking a few times, “But you’re...I. I saw you. You’re…”

“I’m…?”

“You’re _alive_!?”

“Yes?” James finally lost the concerned look, replacing it with what could have been annoyance or confusion or a mix of both, “Am I...not supposed to be?”

“I saw you die!” Aleks found himself shouting, “Holy shit, I saw it! I saw you die! I’m going fucking crazy, oh my god,”

“Aleksandr, what the _fuck_ are you talking about!”

“You!” Aleks pointed, open-mouthed, “ _You_!”

“Okay, I’m coming in,” James pushed past him, shoving the door shut behind him, “You need to finish your sentences. Me!? Me, what!?”

He was _dead_. Aleks _saw him die_ , but here he was anyway. Yelling at him and walking into his apartment like he owned the place, like he hadn’t been _dead_ for _over a month_.

Aleks...Aleks really should have expected this but if there’s one thing he’d learned from the last few weeks, it was that you could never expect James.

“I saw, you were, I _heard_ -” Aleks stammered, lifting his hands to slowly reach out for him. Still confused, James let him.

He put his palm to James’ chest, somehow expecting for blood to just. Be there. Or for his chest to cave in under his touch, for him to flinch or something. But James just stood there, hands half raised like he was waiting for Aleks to do something that needed to be stopped, while Aleks pressed against his chest a little. Nothing happened, no blood or caving or pained grunt. His chest was warm and solid and achingly familiar, and so was the rest of him when Aleks moved outward, feeling along his shoulders. When he reached his arm, James finally flinched a little but he didn’t move away.

“What…” Aleks dropped his hands, leaned back against the wall, dizzy, “What happened? I saw you _fall_ ,”

James’ cheeks went pink, his face forming a chagrined grimace, “You, uh. You saw that, huh?”

“Yes, I _saw_ that! You were - there was so much blood, and the shots, and - and you,” Aleks had to stop, press a hand to his own chest so he could make himself breath properly, “Meg wouldn’t turn around. I saw you fall and then I just _left_ , I left you,”

“Did you,” James blinked, face going almost slack, “Holy shit, did you think I was _dead_!?”

“ _Yes_! I saw you go _down_!”

“I _tripped_!”

Aleks...didn’t know how to respond to that. His mouth dropped open in shock.

“The blood was Law’s,” James reached for the hem of his shirt and yanked it up, revealing his bare chest and soft belly. It was clear of any wounds. “I’m _fine_. I just, you know,” he let his shirt fall, “I was kind of rattled from the gunfire in an echo chamber and didn’t see the gap between the jet and the stairs and, well. Down I went.”

“But,” Aleks shakily reached out again and, this time, James stepped into it. Held his wrist and pressed his hand to his chest again.

“I’m fine.” James repeated, “You didn’t...leave me to die, or whatever’s been going through your head. You did exactly what you were supposed to do.”

“I left,” Aleks choked out, slowly closing his fingers into James’ shirt until he had a good grip on the material, “I _left you there._.”

“You were supposed to go,” James reminded him, coming a little closer and then a little closer, until he could place a hand on Aleks’ shoulder. He was still holding Aleks’ wrist, his hand warm, and Aleks could feel his heart beating fast under his fist. “The whole point of that stand-off was that you _went_.”

“But you didn’t find me.” Aleks swallowed, his voice accusing, “You said you’d meet me here.”

“You told Ramsey you didn’t want to have anything to do with us!” James defended, “Those two _assholes_ rounded us up after you left, drove us all the fuckin’ way back to LS, and _then_ Ramsey yelled at us, told us to never try to contact you again by your own fucking request, and kicked us all out of the city!”

“I see how this could be a comedy of errors all around,” Aleks said faintly after a second of thought, his brain still racing in circles around _he’s alive, he’s alive, he’s alive_ , much too fast for him to really try to figure everything else out.

“Did you not tell _anyone_ you thought I was dead, _all month_!?”

“I told my _friends_!” He snapped, pushed at James a little until he’d backed up a step, gave Aleks room to breathe in this new information, “It was a _painful thing to talk about_ , you _asshole_!”

“I _wasn’t dead_!”

“Well, I thought you were!” Aleks shoved him again and James stumbled back, hit the door, and Aleks followed him, balling his other fist in James’ shirt too and using his grip to keep him with his back to the door, “I thought you were! And you didn’t contact me, I thought you were dead and you just - you _asshole_ , you just -”

“I’m sorry.” James held his wrists, moved his hands up to his shoulder, and then his jaw, “I’m sorry, Aleks, I’m so sorry. For all of this. For Law, and for listening to Ramsey; I thought you’d changed your mind, I’m sorry.”

“I _didn’t_ ,” Aleks raged, shaking him a little with the grip on his shirt. His throat was tight, relief and anger fusing together in his chest and choking him, “I _didn’t_ , you fucking - I’ve _been here_ , and you didn’t -”

“I’m sorry,” James said again, pulled him closer until he could press their lips together in a salty kiss. His thumbs rubbed under Aleks’ eyes, wiping at the _tiny bit_ of tears that managed to escape. Aleks breathed in sharply against his lips, shocked at how fucking much he’d missed this, and kissed back with almost too much willingness. It was a _bad kiss_ , really, because Aleks was breathing funny and James was breathing funny and holding his face too tightly and Aleks was kind of shaking and it was honestly more of them just shoving their faces together than _kissing_ , but Aleks didn’t ever want it to ever stop.

It did, though, eventually, though not by much. James kissed his lips, pulled back a little and then kissed him again and again, at the corners of his mouth and the tip of his nose, pressed their foreheads together and slid his hands from Aleks’ face to lace his arms around his shoulders and pull him closer, into a tight hug. As if Aleks was the one who’d come back to life.

Aleks went easily. He didn’t want to fight anymore, or argue against James being here, however it had happened. Instead, he let go of James’ shirt and reached around him to hug him back.

They stood together for a long time, just holding each other, and Aleks couldn’t say he minded. But they couldn’t stay like that forever. The responsible thing to do would be to push him away, make him talk. Try to understand what was happening.

Aleks didn’t want to be responsible, and no one was there to make him be, though. Instead, he ran a slow hand along James’ spine, felt the way his body reacted, twitching closer to Aleks’ like he couldn’t get enough of the contact either. Aleks could feel him breathing slowly against his neck, feel the prickles of his beard, smell the shampoo he used in his hair.

“This is gonna get messy,” James said, quiet, into his skin and Aleks nodded, because it was. Boy, it was. “Messier than it already is.”

“You said Gavin sent you?”

James slowly pulled away, breathing out like it was a chore he had to talk himself into doing, and Aleks let him go even though everything in him said not to. They stood together, still touching but not as close anymore, and it was easier to think now but Aleks didn’t want to think.

Still, not thinking is what fucked Aleks over in the first place, so he made himself keep some distance between them. They needed to talk, as gross as that sounded.

“He, uh. Said that maybe you weren’t as sure about not wanting to see me as you sounded when you told Ramsey to send us away.”

“I didn’t -” Aleks sighed, brows coming together in frustration, “I couldn’t...face them. After you died protecting _me_ , I couldn’t face your team, so I asked Geoff to _keep them away_ from me, but I didn’t _know_ -”

“It’s okay, dude,” James squeezed his wrist, carefully twisted their hands until they could tangle their fingers together, “Obviously, things got a little fucked up here. More than they already were. Which was a lot.”

“Yes, I’d say it was pretty fucked before, too,” Aleks agreed, and carefully touched James’ face, warm and _alive_ , made him tilt his head a little so he could get a better look at his shiner, “Run any jobs while I was mourning your fuckin’ loss?”

“No,” James smiled, a little sheepish, “I’ve just been sitting at home with Ein. This is, um. From Gavin.”

“Jesus.”

“We got away once before he caught up to us, but I guess he wasn’t gonna let me walk into an LS airport without giving me the what-for.”

“He probably broke a knuckle against your eye socket, dude,”

“It _felt_ like he broke something.”

“You kind of deserved it, to be fair.”

“Am I gonna get hit by every member of your family before I’m forgiven for, like, one tiny mistake?”

“You’d be killed if Jeremy decked you,” Aleks scoffed, but he found that he was smiling, “But. I think we can rectify one...tiny mistake.”

“Yeah?” James lost the joking tone, “You think? Even though it wasn’t so tiny?”

Aleks swallowed, looking down at their hands. James’ fingers were a little rougher, but he held Aleks’ hands gingerly, carefully. He didn’t want him to let go.

“Yeah.” He looked back up, firm, “Yeah, I...I think we can. If we...you know, if we wanted to.”

“What about _two_ tiny mistakes?” James asked, and then reached into his pocket. Aleks blinked once, twice, as he pulled his closed fist out and then turned his hand and opened it up. In his palm lay the book charm.

“James.”

It was still unbroken.

“It was in my pants, and I kind of forgot about it, what with the gun fight and the Fakes snatching us up and all that. I was gonna give it back to them, but no one asked for it and I, uh. I was gonna use it as an excuse to talk to you if I ever worked up the nerve.”

“You...you didn’t open it.”

“I didn’t want the fucking ring in the first place.” James shrugged, picking up the locket by the chain and unhooking the clasp. “Can I?”

Slowly, Aleks nodded. James reached around his neck with the chain ends, hooked it in the back and then let go. The locket laid against his chest, warm from James’ pocket. He reached for it, looked at it in the center of his palm. It felt familiar, missed. It looked like it had been cared for.

“I...I don’t know what to say. This could have made you rich.”

“I guess Free was right. It only really belongs with one person.”

Aleks closed his fingers around the locket, blinked back whatever other fucking _feelings_ were trying to _happen_ , like it wasn’t enough, already. “...You’ve got a really cute dog, and I dunno if I could let her go, so I _guess_ I can let you off the hook for this one, too.”

“Ein gets me out of a lot of trouble,” James said, a small smile slowly growing into a larger grin.

“Yeah, well. Try not to do it again.”

“That might not be too difficult. I’ve, uh. Got a new boss and it might be a little hard to turn you into him when he’s kinda your dad.”

“James.” Aleks inhaled slowly and released, “Jesus Christ.”

“Yeah, man, I dunno. I just got off the plane and Gavin punched me and then Ramsey _hired_ us? So, you’re looking at your new bodyguard. For, like, real this time. If that’s okay.”

“I dunno, man,” Aleks tried to keep the grin off his face, letting go of the locket so he could wipe roughly at his eyes, his headache still going strong and only getting worse from all the _emotion_ , “Are you gonna try to lock me in my apartment again?”

“I think I’ll try something a little different this time around, actually,” James looked him over, “You look like a partier. I might just tag along, make sure you don’t get stuck in the bathroom with assholes.”

“There’s only one asshole I wanna get stuck in bathrooms with,” Aleks said and wiggled his eyebrows hard enough that James actually laughed out loud and wrinkled his face up.

“That is _gross_ , dude. You’re a fuckin’ idiot, _Christ_ ,”

“Maybe. But you -”

“ _Want to kiss you_ , yes, oh my god. I want to kiss you.”

“And -”

“ _Date you_ , I _get it_ ,”

“You want to kiss me and date me. You _like_ me,”

“Stop.” James held up a finger, “Stop. Don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what? Point out that I make your loins quiver?”

“I can’t even - oh my god. What is _that_?”

“...don’t.”

“Aleks. Aleksandr. Aleksandr, _what is_ _that_ -”

“ _Don’t_.” Aleks said, refusing to confirm what James was looking at. If he didn’t move, James wouldn’t realize he was there. Kind of like a T-Rex. Assholeosaurus Rex.

“You like _me_!” James laughed, sounding far too smug, “Oh my _god_ , you _missed me_! You missed me so much!”

“Get out, I changed my mind. Get out, I never want to see you again, leave right now -”

James ignored him, walking deeper into the apartment and heading straight for the couch. Mishka barked excitedly now that he was finally away from the door, nearly tripping over herself to get to him and he leaned down to scratch the top of her head while he laughed at Aleks like the piece of shit he was.

“ _You_ want to date _me_!” James turned round, pointing at him triumphantly, “ _You_ want to kiss _me_!”

“Jesus.” Aleks shook his head, locking his door and turning to face him, “You’re so fucking stupid. I hate you. I _hate_ you.”

And then he walked over, shoved James over the back of the couch and followed him down to kiss him again. Or _try_ to kiss him again, through the hysterical laughter and the screaming of his slowly healing ribs.

 _Cow print_. Gavin would be so disappointed.

“It fits.” James giggled, upside down with most of his upper body hanging off the edge.

“No, it doesn’t,” Aleks argued, tugging him up to kiss him, “It doesn’t. It’s disgusting. You’re disgusting.”

“Then stop kissing me,”

“No,” Aleks said, and kissed him again. He felt James shaking, laughing at him _again_ , and Aleks refused to admit he was laughing, too.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad, after all. No one had to know it was here except those closest to him, and he had enough dirt on all of them to make sure they stayed silent. This could work.

James grinned at him, kind of sliding even more onto the floor, and Aleks could tell he was gonna start yelling soon, complaining about his back and about Aleks being a bitch, probably about the dog hair all over the floor, and somehow that just made his heart beat faster. He almost wanted to hear it.

They still had a lot to work out. The parameters of James’ new job, which _what?_ , and Aleks needed to have just, so many words with his family over _being clear about things_ , and he and James probably needed to talk about...the whole thing. Law, and what happened, and what they wanted to do, and a whole bunch of other _adult things_. There was...probably more to work on together than there was to not, but Aleks...wanted to do that. Have those talks and call James an idiot and play fucking Dark Souls with him, and meet Ein for real. He wanted to do all of that.

And he _could_ , because James was here, alive, with him.

James grinned against his lips, as though maybe he was having similar thoughts, and it was a contagious reaction that had Aleks grinning into their kiss, too.

Yeah...this could work.


End file.
